Valley Girl
by The Amber Pen
Summary: When a new farmer moves into Pelican Town, Penny is faced with her worst fear - socialising with a friendly stranger. Can she bring herself out of her shell, and get what she really wants out of life? Or will she continue to let her introverted nature and her alcoholic mother bring her life to a grinding halt?
1. First Encounters - Spring 2nd

It had taken two hours to work through the mess that her mom had left last night. It wasn't just the usual dirty dishes and piles of beer-stained clothing, either. Pam had evidently hit the booze pretty hard last night, and hadn't quite been able to keep all of her dinner from spilling out. As she scrubbed the lounge tiles clean of her mom's vomit, Penny grimaced as she recognized chunks of the chicken casserole she'd cooked the night before. Just across the room, Pam was passed out on the sofa, her hand still half-clutching a can of Joja Light Brew.

After a few minutes, Penny had managed to lift most of the stains off the tiles. Well, the big stains that you could see, at least. She sighed to herself at the sight of her unconscious mom, and began moving the detergent and scrubbing brush back under the kitchen sink.

There was a thick, guttural noise from the sofa, followed by her mom's thick, rum-stained voice. "You cleanin'?"

"Just tidying up a few things, mom." Penny replied softly, trying not to help wake her up. She'd already decided that it would be best if she could slip out without confronting her.

"Don't forget the dishes."

"I know, mom." Penny tried desperately to contain the tone of annoyance in her voice.

"Good girl." There was the sound of the sofa squeaking and creaking as Pam rolled over.

"Mom…" Penny swallowed. "You'd vomited again."

There was a short, painful silence.

"So what?" Pam grunted.

"Mom, you know that drinking this much is really bad for y-"

"Don't you talk to me like that."

"Forget it, mom."

"I mean it."

"I know, please forget it, mom."

A great, enveloping sadness washed over Penny. In recent years her mom's drinking problem had gotten much, much worse. To the point that being passed out seemed like her default state. Clearly, though, Pam wasn't too concerned about it, as she'd soon gone back to snoring thickly.

Penny glanced around the trailer. She'd always been ashamed to live in such a thing, especially as they were the only ones in Pelican Town. Probably the only ones in Stardew Valley, for that matter. Still, that shame had renewed her desire to give Jas and Vincent the best education she could. No one else in the valley was prepared to; there wasn't even a school. And without a proper education, they might not be able to afford a future beyond a trailer. She shuddered at the thought.

With a hesitant glance at her mom, Penny grabbed her book off the table and made her way outside. She had a little time to herself before she was teaching Jas and Vincent, and her favorite way to pass the time was to find a nice, quiet spot to read her book. Preferably away from her mom. First, though, she needed to stop by Pierre's general store. Once again, her mom had somehow finished off all of their bread. _Probably to soak up the booze_ , Penny thought.

Stardew Valley was in the midst of a blooming Spring. Flowers were blossoming all across the valley, and the air was thick with the smell of freshly cut grass and the gentle hubbub of distant, friendly voices. As she made her way across the yard towards Pierre's, Penny clipped back her copper-red hair with a small yellow clasp, trying to hold on to her book at the same time. Whilst she was struggling, she managed to walk straight into someone's back, her book dropping to the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Penny reached down to pick up her book. She stood back up to see Sam, smiling back at her. Immediately, she felt nervous. Sam had always been really kind to her, and even though she struggled with most people to be herself, she felt more herself around him than anyone else. But with his bright blonde hair, charming smile and admirably laid-back attitude, Penny couldn't deny the warm, fuzzy feelings she felt towards him. It ended up meaning that Penny felt both more herself and yet more nervous around Sam than with anyone else. Queasy. A little bit lovesick.

"That's okay, Penny! Lost in your book again I see."

Penny blushed. "No, actually, I wasn't, I was-"

"Don't worry about it! Hey, check out my new trick."

When Penny glanced at his feet, she realized he was standing on a skateboard. How she hadn't managed to knock him off, she wasn't sure. She nodded meekly at Sam and stood back a few paces, clutching her book to her chest and watching his board. This was more often than not her response to being cut off; going quiet. Which was fine by her, she had never _quite_ got the hang of socializing, anyway. At least not comfortably.

Sam did a small jump and flipped his board over completely before landing on it again. With a huge grin on his face, he leapt off the board.

"What do you think?"

Penny smiled, and offered her usual compliment. "It's really cool, Sam."

"Thanks Penny, you're awesome." Penny's blush resurfaced. "Oh hey, Abby, check this out!"

Before anything more could be said, Sam had mounted his skateboard again and began riding over towards the town square, where Abigail was passing by. In that moment, Penny felt a pang of jealousy, and a little bit of contempt for Abigail. Which was completely unfair, she knew that. Abigail had always been kind to her, and Sam was just excited to show everyone his trick. That's all. _Still, she didn't have to smile and laugh that much._

Shifting her thoughts to the back of her mind, she kept walking towards Pierre's. With a quick glance at the town calendar to see if anything was coming up, Penny slipped inside the store. It was definitely busier than usual. Most of the time, Penny only ever found Pierre at his counter and an otherwise empty store. Sometimes Mayor Lewis would be there pondering over the best fertilizer to use for his front garden, or Emily would be browsing the fresh fruits and herbs, or Marnie might pop in to stock up on groceries. But this time, there were at least five people in the store. As far as Penny could tell, one of them was a complete stranger. It took her a few seconds before it clicked, but she realized that the stranger must be the new farmer that was moving in to the valley. He'd been the topic of the town for a week or so now, and everyone was pretty excited to have a new face moving in. Somehow, he looked a lot younger than she'd imagined. In her head, a farmer was an old to middle aged man with a pitchfork, dirty overalls and maybe a smoky pipe and tweed cap. The only bit she'd gotten right was the cap.

Pierre was behind the counter as usual, but this time he was leaning forward with a big grin on his face, pushing his glasses further up his nose and joining in with the group's conversation. On the other side of his counter stood Robin, Demetrius, Evelyn and the man she didn't recognize.

Robin was the town carpenter. She offered her services around to everyone, whether it was just fixing a leaky roof or building a brand new shed, she was happy to help. She looked even more happy than usual though, and if Penny had to guess, it would be because the new farmer would need a lot of construction done. Demetrius was Robin's husband, and although Penny had never really talked to him one-on-one, he seemed like a nice man. In thinking about it though, she realized that she had no idea what he did for a living other than that he was some sort of scientist. Evelyn, on the other hand, had talked to Penny a great deal. She was a very kindly old lady, who spent most of her time looking after her husband George, who was, as of recent years, wheelchair-bound. At every social event that Stardew Valley held, if Evelyn was there she made a point of talking to Penny, even if she really didn't have much to say. Although she seemed to do that with everybody. Her wispy grey hair was always kept perfectly, and Penny struggled to remember if she'd ever seen Evelyn when she wasn't smiling.

Before anyone could really notice her coming in, Penny slipped into an aisle on her right and began browsing. She was painfully aware that the bread she wanted was right next to where everyone was standing, and she'd probably have to ask Demetrius if he could move so she could get to it. But instead of going over to do that, Penny waited a while in the canned goods aisle.

"You should come around and meet George, dear," said Evelyn, "I'll make you some cookies, have you ever made cookies, John?"

 _John_. _That must be the farmer._

"No, never, Mrs. Mullner," came a strong, warm voice.

"Oh well I'll have to teach you my recipe!" The excitement in Evelyn's voice grew. She was always sharing her cookie recipe, almost as if she was determined not to let it die with her. "And you can call me 'Granny' if you'd like, dear."

"Okay, Granny." John laughed.

Penny shuffled over to her right and peered through a gap in the shelves.

"John, we're just about to head off," said Demetrius, clasping a box of detergent he'd just bought. "Listen, if you're interested, swing by the house some time, I'll show you some of the soil samples I took a few weeks ago from your farm."

"That'd be great." John smiled and shook Demetrius' hand as he and Robin made their way towards the door. "Nice to meet you!"

"You too!" Demetrius chimed back.

Penny made sure to duck away in case being spotted led to being introduced to John. She knew it was inevitable, but it didn't have to be now, did it?

It was a little while before Evelyn left too, doddering creakily towards the exit and slowly, weakly, pulling the door open to leave. Penny hadn't really been listening after Evelyn left, but was vaguely aware that John and Pierre's conversation had covered a range of topics, from Joja Mart to the beauty of the valley. She only tuned in when she realized Pierre was directing John straight to her.

"John, by the way," said Pierre, clearing his throat, "if you're looking for more seeds, I've got some in the aisle over there."

Penny didn't need to see where Pierre was pointing to know that he was pointing towards her aisle. She was close enough to touch the seeds. Before she could move, someone rounded the corner of the small aisle and was walking towards her. She turned away, pretending to be extremely interested in the assorted vegetables in front of her.

"Hi there," said a voice from behind her. It was John. "I've just moved in to the farm up the way. I'm John."

Penny swallowed hard. She turned gingerly to face him. He wasn't even dressed how she'd imagined a farmer. He was wearing some sort of black work shirt with the sleeves rolled up and some very dirty looking jeans. She'd guessed the dirt part correctly, at least. He had a head of short, messy earthy-brown hair and facial hair that was somewhere between stubble and a small beard. Suddenly, it dawned on her that she hadn't actually said anything yet, and she was just looking at him, silently.

"…Hi." She said, finally, feeling an enormous sense of relief from just getting a single word out. "I'm Penny."

"It's nice to meet you, Penny." John smiled warmly and extended his hand. She grabbed it gently and shook it, before quickly turning her attention back to the vegetables. After a few moments, she realized that John was still paying her attention.

"I'm sorry, did you want something?"

"Oh, no," John reddened slightly and turned away to face the seeds, "I'm just introducing myself to the town, is all."

Penny cringed internally. She didn't mean to come across as rude or unwelcoming, but somehow she always sounded cold when she met new people. It was all just so awkward, how did people do it so often, and so easily? It baffled her. It was one of the reasons she loved Stardew Valley so much; everyone that she'd encounter on a daily basis was someone she'd already met. She often didn't need to deal with new people at all. So, suddenly dealing with one now was tricky. She just hoped he didn't think she was rude or curt with him.

Realizing that no one was by the bread, Penny moved over to that corner of the shop and grabbed some multigrain bread. She left the right amount of coins on the counter for Pierre, who gave her a warm "thanks, Penny" and a smile, before moving over to deposit the cash in the register. Bread in one hand and book in the other, Penny left the shop, trying desperately not to catch John's eye on the way out, for fear that she'd see him looking at her as if she'd insulted him. But she was out now, and knew exactly where she was headed. The bread didn't need to be taken home straight away, so instead of heading left, she crossed the small town square in front of her.

Just down the street was her favorite spot, on a soft patch of grass next to a gorgeous grand oak tree. Putting the bread down, she sat down cross-legged on the grass, ensuring to smooth out her skirt, and opened her book. It didn't take long for Penny to escape the awkwardness of what had just happened, or the worries of what her mom was up to, or the never-ending stream of thoughts about how she could help her mom, or her consuming desire to move out of the trailer, or her desperate pleading with herself to be more sociable. All of that slipped away.

Instead, her mind was transported elsewhere, to a world where none of that even threatened to exist. Books, and the universes within them, were her ultimate refuge.

* * *

Tuesday, Spring 2nd, Year 1.

For this story, we'll be jumping through Penny's timeline, each chapter is a new and meaningful interaction between Penny and John as their relationship grows and develops.

Please let me know what you think and thank you very much for reading!


	2. The Unexpected Lesson - Spring 23rd

"Okay, Jas, now what about this one?" Penny pointed her pencil at Jas' maths worksheet, something she had managed to create and print off here, at the library.

"Umm…" Jas contorted her face in concentration. After about ten seconds she exhaled loudly. "I don't know. Multiplication is hard!"

"It _is_ hard. They're big numbers." Penny smiled, patting Jas on the back. "But you'll get it soon, I promise." She glanced over at her only other student. "Vincent? How's it going?"

"Tricky, Miss Penny," Vincent mumbled through the eraser in his mouth, staring at the worksheet. "I think I got it though."  
"Great," Penny leaned over to have a look at his sheet. "You let me know if you're struggling, okay?"

Vincent nodded, his eyes still glued to the page. Penny leaned back in her sitting position. The three of them were sitting on large padded cushions around a small table in the town library. Stardew Valley didn't have a school house, so Penny took it upon herself to teach the town's kids, Jas and Vincent, as best she could. It was a modest set-up, to say the least, but she made it work. These days she found herself reading more educational books than fiction, and she spent a large portion of her free time forming lessons for the kids. She was by no means a teacher, at least not by any official standard, but she wanted to do her best for them.

The kids were well behaved… Most of the time, at least. There were days when it was incredibly difficult to get them to concentrate on their work, rather than making silly faces at each other or throwing things around. Vincent was the easiest to keep in line. For some reason, as long as Penny was stern with him, and attempted to show disappointment when he misbehaved, Vincent could do nothing else but comply. As soon as he'd start working, Jas would know the game was up. Still, Penny had to hand it to them that on the whole, they were very good kids. In fact, if anyone were to state otherwise, she'd get very protective. _They're my hard-working little students, and sure, they act up sometimes, but kids are kids, aren't they?_ Penny thought, resolvedly. She was proud of them as her own. And in the absence of a viable future with her own kids - because there was no way she'd raise _her_ kids in a trailer - they'd have to fill that void.

Their families were more than happy for Penny to take the kids on; more than anything they were relieved that they didn't have to ship their kids away from the valley every day just to get an education. On top of paying her weekly, Marnie - Jas' mother - had once baked her a lovely pink cream cake to say thank you, and from that point onwards had made sure to bake one on Penny's birthday each year. Vincent's mom Jodi was a single mother, waiting for her husband to return from service. She was certainly very happy for Penny to take Vincent off her hands for a little while and give her a chance to recuperate.

The library itself was really cozy. The carved oak shelves were stuffed with books on a plethora of subjects and the entire place was built for comfort; a warm, noiseless atmosphere and large, plush cushions to sit on. It was easily Penny's favorite building in the whole valley; a far cry from her trailer.

The entire building, considering what it was, wasn't very big at all. In Penny's opinion, that trebled its coziness. It all flowed as one room, from the reception through to the library and then straight through from there to the museum, which was practically empty. The museum's curator, Gunther, was desperate to find new material for the museum and was often asking anyone who entered to keep an eye out for items that might be of interest. Which meant that every time Penny stepped through the door, she was greeted with a hearty "got anything for me?" and a tip of his large blue feathered cap, to which she always replied "not this time, Gunther," much to Gunter's disappointment.

"Miss Penny, are you going to the Flower Dance tomorrow?" said Vincent, peeling his eyes away from the worksheet.

"I am, Vincent." Penny shuffled around the scattered notes in front of her, trying to find her answer sheet to help Jas. "Your brother usually asks me to dance."

"Yeah I know," Vincent was now chewing the end of his pencil. "Sam's excited about it. He's going to show off his skateboard tricks."

Although she knew that Vincent meant Sam was excited about his tricks, it still gave her butterflies in her stomach.

The Flower Dance was an annual event in a beautiful and remote clearing in Cindersap Forest. It was a tradition passed down from the older generations of Pelican Town, and yet for some reason they never really got involved in the dance, but simply stood aside to watch the young adults. The whole event was a very curious thing, and it always brought with it an equally curious feeling for Penny.

All year, she'd be both dreading and dreaming about the Flower Dance. It was so nice to dance with Sam, to have that intimate contact, that closeness. And yet at the same time it was terrifying. Socialising, _dancing_ no less, with a very large group of people was incredibly nerve-wracking. These powerful conflicting feelings often culminated in an unyielding sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she felt heavy and unbalanced, as if her bowels had been replaced with a gallon of sloshing warm water.

She made sure each year to ask Evelyn if she could bring along some of her dandelion broth, because it always helped soothe her stomach. Evelyn, of course, was delighted by this, and Penny didn't have the heart, nor see the need, to tell her that she despised the taste. Penny shook her head, and tried to forget about it, lest any sickness arose prematurely.

There was a small clattering noise coming from outside, just before Gunther came marching triumphantly through the main door, followed along closely by John.

"It's really quite interesting, actually," babbled Gunther, waggling his finger and leading John through the library. John was using both arms to clutch a few strange-looking odds and ends. "What you've got there is a fire opal, and it's called that because of those deep red spots. They were once used for…" Gunther spun around to face John, and plucked something out of the pile he was holding. He held it up to the light. "…Oooh," he ogled at whatever it was he'd pinched out, "Forget the fire opal, this is a magnificent find."

"What's that?" Jas piped up as Gunter admired the item. She was clearly much more interested in whatever that was than what the answer was to question fifteen.

Before answering, Gunther looked down at her sharply over his semi-circular glasses, almost as if he hadn't realized anyone else was there. He turned his gaze to Penny. "Penny, I'm not interrupting with this, am I?"

Penny tapped her pen against her lip and eyed the small grey thing Gunther was holding. "No, it's okay." She eventually conceded. "It's probably good stuff for the kids to learn, right guys?" She glanced at both of them.

"Yeah!" Jas and Vincent exclaimed in unison, all too eager to close their maths books and turn their attention to Gunther. Penny smiled, shaking her head slightly.

"Great," said Gunther, sitting down on a big cushion at the other side of the table. "John," he said, gesturing with his free hand, "come on over, I'll catalogue them later."

John, still carrying several strange things in his arms, carefully made his way over to the table and very gently deposited everything on the table, taking extra precautions not to damage anything.

"So," Gunther showed them what he was holding, "this is an ancient arrowhead. This was used as the tip of a spear or an arrow a long, long time ago to hunt for food. Incredible." It sounded less like Gunther was explaining things to the kids and more like he was letting his inner monologue of fascination spill out. "Kids, can you guess how old this is?"

The kids both started guessing seemingly random numbers. Jas settled on "about a hundred years" whilst Vincent declared that it must be _at least_ a million years old. While the kids were enamored by Gunther's next story about a dwarven scroll, Penny found herself absent-mindedly watching John, intrigued. Just before she could look away, he caught her eye.

"I found them buried," said John, leaning in to talk to her. "Started digging up the ground to get the land ready for crops and… well there they were."

Penny, now certain that she couldn't pretend she hadn't been curious, turned back to face him. "That's amazing."

"Yeah," John smiled, brightly. "Look at this one," John placed a small purple gem on the table in front of her. "That's what Gunther was talking about, the fire opal. See the red spots?"

Penny nodded, picking up the stone and turning it over in her hands. "And um," Penny cleared her throat, admiring the gem, "this was in the ground too?"

"It was in a rock I smashed." John smiled again, a tone of pride in his voice. "It's really cool. I'd give it to you, but I think Gunther would sooner eat clay than let me take it away from his collection." He chuckled, holding his hand out to take it back.

Penny found herself smiling at the sentiment of being given a rare gem, a little flattered. "It's beautiful." She handed it back to John, showed him her smile, and turned her attention back to Gunther, trying to conceal her slight blush.

"Ewww!" Jas squealed, covering her eyes. "They used a _stick_ to clean their teeth?"

"Yes they did!" squawked Gunther, excitedly, now waving around a chewing stick. "No mouthwash, no toothpaste, this is just a very early toothbrush!" Jas and Vincent were caught between a state of laughter and disgust. "Anyway, John," Gunther stood up from the cushion and began carefully picking up the rest of the artifacts from the table. "I'm going to tidy this away and set it up in the museum. Incredible finds, seriously. Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" John watched him as he hurried towards the museum section of the room, a happy jig in his step. "Well, I suppose I should go too." John got to his feet and stretched out his arms. They were slightly bulkier than Penny had remembered. "Got some more work to do. This farming business is taking its toll on me, that's for sure."

"Are you going to the Flower Dance, mister?" Vincent asked, probably to delay returning to the dreaded maths worksheet.

"I sure am, buddy." John grinned, still stretching his arm behind his head, wincing slightly at what must have been muscle pain. "Are you?"

"Yeah. Not dancing though." He stuck his tongue out at Jas, who giggled. "Who's dancing with you?"

John gave a small chuckle. "Not a clue! Been cooped up on the farm." John lowered his arms and was now stretching out his left leg in front of him. He paused, and turned his cheery gaze towards Penny. "Perhaps Penny here would do me the honor?"

Penny's face turned a rosy scarlet. She tried to pretend not to have heard, but she knew her face had given the game away. Swallowing hard, she tried in silence to think of the kindest rejection she could with a meek smile. But Vincent saved her.

"Miss Penny's dancing with my brother."

"Oh well," said John, finishing his stretch and straightening out his shirt. "Maybe I'll rope Marnie into dancing with me," chuckled John, to the sound of titters and giggles from Jas and Vincent. "Anyway, I'm heading out. See you kids, see you Penny!" And with that, John was on his way out the door, swinging his arms to exercise them as he went.

"Still can't believe Abigail won the Egg Hunt." Vincent moaned, once again trying to distract Penny from his maths. "I was so close to winning!"

"I know," said Penny gently, slightly distracted as she watched John leave. "But we've got some maths to focus on, don't we?"

* * *

23rd, Spring, Year 1.

Side note: Penny's actually donated a piece of pottery to Gunther before, but for the purposes of this story that hasn't happened yet... just in case you were wondering!

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more!


	3. I Like to Cook - Summer 14th

It was another cloudless, lazy hazy day. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the air was thick with the smell of blooming flowers and backyard barbeques. Penny drank in the warm, fragrant air, savoring each lungful. There were no kids to teach, no lessons to worry about, and no classes to plan. Summer had come to Stardew Valley.

Penny was lying down on the lawn, running her hands through the soft blades of grass. She was back in her favorite spot in town, on the lawn by the big tree at the end of Willow Lane. Her favorite summertime book, _Juminos and Other Assorted Fables_ , was open, resting on her chest. Even with her loose yellow blouse and light pink skirt, the daytime heat was almost too much. Her vibrant red hair was held back with a couple more clips than usual, as she was eager to keep it off her neck to keep cool. With nothing but the gentle humming of Pelican Town and the tickling of the soft summer breeze across her face, Penny's eyes narrowed sleepily to a close. Just like when she was reading a book, she'd been taken to another world, where there was nothing to worry about, and peace was all that existed.

"Penny?" John's voice washed gently over her. After several seconds of letting his voice sink in, she suddenly realized that his voice came from the real world. Her eyes opened to the bright summer sky, and the trance-like state came to an end. She pulled herself up quickly to a sitting position to see John standing in front of her, clutching something large and round. His face was shadowed by the shimmering sun behind him.

"John? Hey. Do you… do you need something?" Penny stuttered, caught off guard as she straightened out her skirt on her legs.

"No, but I've got something for you." John knelt down beside her on the grass. As he drew closer, the shadow dissipated and Penny could see a broad smile across his face. "Here." He stretched out his arm and handed over the round object. It was a large, juicy-looking melon. She took it from him slowly, surprised at how heavy it was when she held it in both hands.

"Wow." Penny smiled warmly, admiring the beautifully grown fruit. "This is for me? I love melon."

"You do? That's great!" John moved from his kneeling position with a small grunt to sit down next to her. "Yeah it's for you. I've had lots of leftovers off the farm, been handing them out." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small tupperware box, opening it to reveal some large assorted blueberries. "Mayor Lewis loves these." He grinned, popping one into his mouth. "Want one?" He held out the box towards her.

"No, thank you." Penny smiled, pushing some loose hair out of her face, not able to clip it back properly with the melon in her hands. "I'm more than happy with the melon, thank you. It looks great."

"I hope so." John grinned, mumbling through a mouth of blueberries. "Oh hey, you'll probably know," John set the box down on the grass and reached into a different pocket of his heavy brown jacket, embellished only by six black plastic buttons. Now that Penny thought about it, it seemed odd that he was wearing a jacket in the heat of the Summer. Asking about it would be much too awkward, though. Out of his other pocket he produced two wrapped packages. Through the plastic wrapping, Penny could see that they were two huge circular lollipops, with a thick and sickly-sweet rainbow-patterned glazing. "Do you know where Jas and Vincent are?" John set them down on top of the small box of blueberries. "Thought they'd be bored with just fruit or veg, so I made them these."

Penny's eyes widened ever so slightly. "You made them yourself?"

"Yeah, I did, actually." John sat up straight, clearly proud of his creation. "Got the recipe off a guy up near the mountains, called a 'Miner's Treat', apparently." John drummed his chin with his fingers. "Maybe the joke is that it's for minors?"

"I like to cook," said Penny, stopping herself before she went any further. That wasn't at all what she'd meant to say. She'd meant to compliment the lollipops, or thank him again for the melon, or tell him she didn't know where the kids were, or maybe even tell him that she didn't keep track of the kids during the Summer. But instead, without her own input, she'd said that. It was slightly upsetting, because right up until that point she was proud of how well she'd been keeping up a casual conversation. She blushed slightly at her own internal awkwardness.

"Me too! You should swing by sometime, I'll show you how to make these, if you like?" John picked up the lollipops and waved them around a little. "They're really simple."

Penny's blush deepened. In her mind, her face now matched her hair. "Sure."

"Great. Anyway, uh," John waved the lollipops again, " _do_ you know where they are?"

"Oh, actually no, I'm sorry." Penny brushed her hair back again, partly to move the hair but partly so that her hand could cover her residual blush.

"That's okay." John picked up the blueberry box and placed it back in his pocket. He got to his feet, lollipops still in hand. "I hope you enjoy the melon, I'm going to go find those ki-"

"Damn it!" An angry voice boomed from the other side of town.

"What was that?" said John, his voice wavering. Penny turned around and got to her feet, equally bemused.

"Sounded like Mr. Mullner."

Penny left her book and melon on the ground and began walking towards the Stardrop Saloon. It had sounded like George Mullner, Evelyn's elderly wheelchair-bound husband, and it wasn't the first time she'd heard him frustrated at something, either. She walked briskly past the saloon and rounded the corner. The town was strangely quiet, presumably because everyone was further up near the community center, enjoying the grasslands in the sunshine. Regardless, as Penny drew closer to George and Evelyn's house, she spotted George desperately trying to reach into his mailbox. He looked incredibly frail, his arm shaking as he stretched out, his balding head gleaming in the bright sun. The mail was just about out of his reach, and it was clear that he was getting increasingly frustrated. Swallowing and trying to stifle her inner introvert, Penny approached George from the side.

"Here, let me help you, Mr. Mullner." Penny smiled as brightly as she could as she swept around behind George and gently wheeled him to the side. She reached in and pulled out three letters, and extended her arm to offer them. "Here you go!" She smiled a second time, this time because she was proud that she'd been able to make herself help out. But her smile quickly faded as she spotted George's snarling, infuriated expression. He was suddenly very red in the face, and his right eyebrow was twitching sporadically.

"I could have done it myself!" He barked, snatching the letters out of Penny's hand, a bulging vein pulsating vigorously on his forehead. With a spluttering cough, he added, "And I can certainly move around on my own! How feeble do you think I am?"

Penny was completely taken aback. Entirely at a loss for words, her face flushed a deep, dark red. She had no idea what to say, she _knew_ that intervening was a bad idea. _You're so bad with people! You're a self-made social pariah! You should stick to kids and books! What's wrong with you?_ Penny thought, angrily. She wasn't sure if she was embarrassed or angry. George grunted and cocked his head to peer behind Penny.

"John!" George barked. John was standing a few meters behind Penny, holding both the book and the melon. "Are you watching us?"

Penny turned around to face him. A small tear was streaking down her face, but she tried to wipe it away as quickly as she could. _Oh great,_ Penny thought. _In what world would tears help this situation?_ Despite her best effort, John seemed to spot it. He frowned at her, a frown that shifted into a kindly smile.

"I was." John replied, stepping closer towards the both of them. "You did a kind thing there, Penny."

Penny smiled meekly, still trying to casually wipe her eyes. "Thank you…" Her face blushed a rosy scarlet. She lowered her voice to a whisper, hoping not to let George hear from behind her. "I just wish George wasn't so upset… I was only trying to help."

"No, no," came George's voice from behind her. Penny winced. He'd heard her. "I'm sorry, miss. I shouldn't have gotten so angry."

"That's okay, Mr. Mullner." Penny cleared her throat and straightened up, pivoting around and trying to regain any appearance of confidence that she could muster. "I understand."

George gave a gruff nod and an unintelligible grunt to the both of them, before wheeling himself around and back inside his house. Penny turned back to face John, forcing a smile onto her face. Almost as if she was thinking out loud, she found herself once again saying something before she even realized she wanted to say it.

"It must be difficult to grow old…" As soon as the words came out, she felt ashamed for having called George 'old'. While it was certainly true that he was old, Penny felt that it wasn't the kind of thing you just blurt out. She scolded herself internally for judging him. John, however, didn't seem to flinch or disapprove of what she said. Instead, he paused, looked over slowly at George's house behind Penny, then back at her.

"That's why we should respect our elders," he nodded.

Penny couldn't help but smile, and this time it wasn't forced at all. "That's nice of you to say…" she added with a reciprocal nod, wiping the last residual dampness off her cheek. "I totally agree with you. We should treat our elders with the same respect we hope to receive some day," she said, essentially repeating what she'd told herself.

John grinned and nodded at her, agreeing. There was a moment of silence between the two. It wasn't exactly an uncomfortable silence, but after a few seconds, it was more than Penny could bear.

"Well, it was interesting talking to you, John." Penny pushed her hair back in to place with a gentle smile. "I should go." Cringing at her own shyness, she turned slowly on the spot and was about to walk away.

"Wait, Penny," came John's voice from behind her. She stopped after a couple of steps, and spun around again.

"Yes?"

John extended his arms. "Your book and melon."

Penny laughed nervously and took them from him. With the flash of a smile and a quick "see you later, Penny", John spun around and headed off towards Pierre's. Penny gazed down at the luscious melon in her hands, and smiled.

* * *

14th, Summer, Year 1.

We've jumped a fair bit through Penny's timeline here, but that's what this story is about - we're jumping between meetings of the two characters. But our jumps will continue to get closer together as the two of them continue to meet more frequently...

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more.

Side note from Penny: That turned out to be a really tasty melon.


	4. Moonlight Jellies - Summer 28th

Just as quickly as it had arrived, summer was already on the way out. There was a definite chill lingering in the air, and as the days gently shortened and the nights grew darker, Penny reminded herself that Fall wasn't all that bad. Still, she'd had to put a jacket on for the first time in a few gloriously warm weeks, which was a little disheartening. It was, in fact, the very last calendar day that Stardew Valley recognized as being officially summertime. As was common in their joyful little hamlet, Pelican Town was gearing up to celebrate the turning of the season, with their final summer jamboree. The Dance of the Moonlight Jellies.

Unlike the Flower Dance, the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies wasn't actually a dance at all. Instead, it was a mass migration of jellyfish along their coastline, as they sought warmer waters for the approaching winter. Penny remembered the first time she saw them when she was little; huge numbers of bright, shining creatures, swimming along in the twinkling starlight. They outshone the moon, outstripped the stars, and had the sun been there, they would've given it a run for its money. The more Penny thought about it, the more she realized that it was her favorite Pelican Town festival. There wasn't a grand dinner or a big social event or any intrusive tourism. Instead, it was a quiet and mesmerizing appreciation of the beauty of the natural world, and all that was required of her was to watch the strikingly blue jellyfish streak across the ocean canvas.

She'd made arrangements to meet her mom down there, of course, as with every year, around 10pm. Pam was spending as much time as she could at the Stardrop Saloon soaking in every ounce of booze she could muster before Gus himself closed up the Saloon to come and join the others on the beach. She wasn't worried about her, though. Gus was pretty good at looking after her, and he'd make sure she made it down to the beach in one piece.

Instead, Penny made her way down to the beach with her friend Maru. Maru was Robin and Demetrius' daughter, and she and Penny had always gotten on well. Penny always felt as though Maru was way beyond her in terms of intellect. No matter how much Penny studied, Maru, without reading anything, was a veritable whizz kid at whatever she put her mind to and could easily outshine Penny at most things. She loved tinkering with gadgets and had made a few simple robotic toys herself. And, on top of being a genius in her spare time, she spent the rest of her time working at the medical clinic with Harvey as the only other member of medical staff in Pelican Town. Intimidating as her intelligence was, Penny was pretty comfortable around Maru, and that was something she valued greatly.

"Is your mom coming down this year?" Maru asked, as the two of them made their way down in the twilight across the sand. It was still warm underfoot.

"Yeah, she is." Penny was carefully stepping around the sharp shells and corals that had recently washed up on the beach. "Gus'll probably come down with her."

"So not like last year then," Maru laughed, placing her arm on Penny's shoulders for support as she, too, tiptoed around the sea shells in the dim light. "Remember that?"

Penny laughed, although it really wasn't funny. "Don't remind me."

Last year, Pam hadn't shown up to watch the Moonlight Jellies. When Gus had arrived at the beach, he told Penny that Pam had gone back to her trailer instead. In itself, that was fine, that had happened before. But when Penny arrived home that evening, she was greeted by an unconscious Pam who had, in a very drunken state, broken into Pierre's store during the night, looted a whole load of jams and jellies, and smeared it all over the trailer. Apparently, under the influence of Gus' finest liquor, she couldn't stop giggling at the thought of having her own 'Midnight Jelly Dance' at home. Needless to say, it meant an entire day's worth of deep cleaning the trailer, none of which Pam had helped with. Thankfully, back then Pam had a job driving the transit bus to Calico Desert, so she could just about afford to pay Pierre back for the jam jars and smashed window. Understandably enough though, Pierre was pretty ticked off. It didn't help that Pam usually shopped at Joja Mart, either. This year, Pierre was anxious to see that Pam made it down to the beach without any more 'incidents'.

"Your mom's crazy," laughed Maru, letting go of Penny as they reached the docks. "I love it."

Penny wanted to remind her that it was in fact a serious problem, but decided it wasn't worth the awkward conversation or silence that would ensue. Instead, she said nothing, smiling, as was her usual guise, and walked side-by-side with Maru up along the main pier.

"Hey, Penny, Maru," Sam's voice called from somewhere amongst the group in front of them. "Check it out!" He was pointing over the edge of the pier and into the sea. As the two drew closer to Sam, they peered over the deck's edge and saw a lone, blue jellyfish. "Early jelly," smirked Sam.

"Really early," added Maru, crouching down to get a closer look. "We haven't even sent the light boat out yet. What's drawn him in?"

"Maybe he's lonely." Sam crouched down beside her. "Or he's here to soak up all the glory for himself."

The jellyfish often didn't come very close to land, unless they were drawn in by something. For reasons that no one in Stardew Valley could agree on, the jellyfish were naturally drawn towards light. Demetrius had once suggested that it might be because the jellyfish navigate by the light of the moon, and seeing another bright object confuses their navigation, drawing them to it.

Then there was the town wizard, what was his name… Rasmodium? Razuldimus? Something like that. The man who lived on the other side of Cindersap Forest from Pelican Town, and claimed a deep connection with the 'mystic energies of the natural world'. He'd once shown up to watch the jellyfish and Penny had overheard him talking to Willy about how the jellyfish were called "Lunaloos" and they were drawn to the light because they sought to harness its energy, and they followed 'imperceptible aura waves' through the ocean's current. Penny knew there was more to the world than what met the eye, and she was sure that the wizard knew of some mystical spirits that she did not, but to her that just sounded like complete nonsense.

Of course, there was also the other theory, that made a sort of sense to Penny; that the jellyfish always swam that close to land, but they absorbed a lot of light, so having a boat with a light on it in the midst of their group just made them glow noticeably bright. That was Harvey's theory, anyway.

Whatever the case was, everyone in Stardew Valley certainly agreed on one thing. They were beautiful. Brilliant. Captivating.

"Okay, we're all here," Mayor Lewis' voice piped up cheerily, a few paces away from Penny, Maru, Sam and Sebastian, who'd just joined them. Lewis was standing on the other edge of the pier, next to the traditional light boat. It was a small, oaken platform, no wider or longer than a wheelbarrow. On top of it rested a simple oil lantern, already aglow.

Penny craned her neck to look around the group. It took her a few moments, but… there she was. Her mom had made it this year, although she didn't look terribly well. Instead of standing on the edge of the pier or along the coastline like everybody else, Pam was leaning up against Willy's fishing shack, looking a little nauseated and very tired. Gus was stood watchfully next to her, and gave Penny a small thumbs up as she turned around. Penny gave a small thankful nod. _She's not well, but she's here,_ Penny thought. _That's more than last year._

Everyone else had made it, too. She scanned around the adjacent pier and the stretching beach, spotting a strange silhouette on the coastline, which she was fairly certain was the town wizard. Even the old man who lived in a tent up near the mountains - his name was Linus, as far as she could remember - had managed to make his way down to the coast. He was mostly keeping to himself, although the wizard seemed to be gesturing to him to come over. Linus was wearing some kind of heavy brown jacket, embellished only with six black plastic buttons. Penny's eyes narrowed as she watched him. She recognized the jacket, but didn't remember ever seeing Linus wear anything other than his usual rags. When Lewis started speaking again, Penny jumped slightly, jolted out of deep thought.

"We're going to get started," came Lewis' voice again, a little louder so that he could be heard by the groups gathered on the shoreline. "John, it's your first time, would you like to do the honors?"

John, who'd been staring out to sea a few paces away from everyone else, spun into action upon hearing his name. "What? Oh," his face lit up in surprise and he strolled over to Lewis, "I'd love to."

"Well, when you're ready," Lewis stepped away from the boat, his moustache twitching in excited anticipation. "Give that boat a push out. I think the jellies are ready."

A few moments, a small grunt and a strong push later, John had set the boat on it's course out into the dark ocean. At first, there was nothing. The ocean was cold and dark, lit only by the lonely-looking light boat, a small beacon against the encompassing blackness. But it wasn't lonely for long. After a minute or two, small bulges of blue light surfaced, streaking past the boat and riding the waves. Soon after, more and more began to appear. Before too long, there was more brightness than seemed possible, and almost all of the once-dark ocean had been illuminated in the brilliant, dazzling blue sheen of the Moonlight Jellies. It was a marvel to behold.

 _Splash!_

Spinning around, Penny could only see the spray of water that had been left behind by something large hitting the water. There were screams of terror, and the beach erupted into panicked chaos.

"Jas!" screamed Marnie, and it became very clear, very quickly, just what had fallen in. Jas had gotten too close to the edge, trying to get the best possible view of the jellyfish that she could, before overstepping the edge and crashing through the water.

But she couldn't swim.

Penny immediately went into fight or flight mode. But she couldn't swim either. She would've reached out and grabbed Jas, any of them would, but by the time she had resurfaced she'd already been pushed a few meters out to sea. "Sam!" she screamed, scrambling over to the edge and pointing at Jas thrusting around wildly in the water. "You can swim can't you? You've got to do something!"

"Yeah I-" Sam stopped.

Pounding footsteps erupted along the main strand of the pier, followed by another loud _splash!_ Someone had taken a running leap and a swift dive straight off the pier, and was now swimming frantically towards Jas. A cluster of people formed along the edge, trying to get the best view to see just what was going on. When Penny got around the mass of frantic people, she could see that John was now in the water with Jas. He hoisted her onto his back as he kicked with all of his energy to keep them both afloat and get her over to the shore. Willy, Lewis and Robin were wading in from the shallows to try and meet John in the middle and help get Jas to safety. Marnie was running back along the pier towards the coast to join them. John trudged through the shallows and sinking sand to meet them, handing Jas over to the three of them in the knee-high water and steadying himself as he did. They quickly carried her over to Marnie, who looked like she was on the verge of crying with relief. Jas, on the other hand, was already crying. She was in total shock over what had just happened, and probably didn't have time to process it all, instead bursting into tears. Marnie squeezed her tightly in her arms, whispering soothing words in her ear.

"Good thing John was here," whispered Maru, her eyes still fixed on Jas.

Penny still had a lot of adrenaline pumping through her, with nowhere to direct it. She felt a rush of immediate gratitude towards John, and immediate adrenaline-fuelled anger at everything else. Anger at the people who could swim but did nothing. And anger at Marnie for letting Jas fall in. And anger that Sam hadn't jumped at the chance to save her without thinking. And anger that the wizard on the shoreline hadn't reacted at all. And anger that Maru had joked about her mom. And anger that her mom drank so much. And anger, and anger and anger!

She exhaled slowly, trying to let her unfounded anger dissipate. Jas was safe, and that was all that mattered. She said nothing as she breathed, trying to calm down quietly.

"Thank you, thank you so much John," Marnie was blubbering weakly on the beach. "Y-you saved her."

"That's okay," John spluttered whilst coughing up a little seawater. Lewis wrapped a towel around his shoulders, after having given Jas a towel. "Thanks, Lewis. Is she alright?"

"She's fine," Marnie smiled, choking through several small tears. "She's fine."

Jas had stopped crying, at least out loud, and let go of her aunt Marnie. She dashed over and hugged John's soaking jeans. John laughed in surprise, and patted her on the head.

"You know," he said gently, crouching down to her level and holding on to her shoulders. "For a moment there, when I saw you in the water, I thought you were the coolest looking jellyfish I'd ever seen."

Jas grinned, which quickly broke into a short giggle. She wiped some wet hair from her eyes.

"This is the night that you swam as a Moonlight Jelly," John grinned, with a wink. He stood up slowly and tugged the towel further over his shoulders.

Jas spun around excitedly and looked for Vincent. "I was a Moonlight Jelly!" she yelled, running up to him.

"I wanna be a jelly!" Vincent moaned with a hint of sulkiness.

"Don't you dare," laughed Jodi, patting her son on the back. "I think John's had enough swimming for one day."

By this stage, a lot of people had turned their attention back to the jellies. The waters were a little bit rougher, but the beauty of their incandescence, even when mildly distorted, was still unparalleled. Penny, however, was still watching Jas. Then Marnie. Then John.

She'd managed to reason with herself and let go of all the feelings that had boiled up right after Jas fell in. All of her anger had dissipated. The only thing she was left with was a warm feeling of gratitude towards John. It was a strange, somewhat powerful feeling.

"Penny!" Sam held her shoulder to get her attention. "Look at that one, it's bright green!"

For the first time, physical contact with Sam hadn't made her nervous. She didn't really register that at the time, but in retrospect, it was quite significant. Instead of blushing or smiling or feeling butterflies in her stomach, she simply spun around and gazed where she was being directed. There it was. The rare and beautiful green Moonlight Jelly shimmered with a grand emerald glow, just a few meters out to sea away from them.

He was new and unique, and stood out sharply against the rest. Something, she wasn't sure exactly what, but something, was drawing her to him. He was different. He was admirable. He was captivating.

* * *

Sunday, Summer 28th, Year 1.

Thanks for reading so far!

Stay tuned for more, and please let me know what you think. :)


	5. Bonus Chapter 1 - Fall 2nd

**Bonus Chapter!**

It's the 2nd of Fall - Penny's birthday. This is a bonus chapter because John doesn't physically appear, and each jump between chapters is supposed to contain interactions between the two.

Anyway! I hope you enjoy reading this bonus chapter, please let me know what you think. And if you're reading this, it means you've made it this far into the story and you're _still_ interested, soooo... thank you! As Cave Johnson would say, _"If I punch those numbers into my calculator it makes a happy face."_

* * *

The rain pounded hard against the aluminum roof panels with a constant, blanketing rumble. It was often loud in the trailer, and the sound of rain usually got in the way of any kind of conversation, but today the rain sounded relatively light. Penny loved the rain's soothing, consistent drumming, and it had, on more on than one occasion, sent her quickly to sleep. Somehow, the sound of a storm on the outside as she stayed warm and dry made her feel cozy and safe. Sadly, it wasn't the time to curl up with a nice book. Penny had spent most of her morning, as she often did, cleaning up after her mother's drunken escapades. It hadn't mattered to her mom that today was Penny's birthday, the mess was still the same, and Pam hadn't so much as offered to help.

Still, Marnie had swung by earlier with a pink cream cake to wish her happy birthday, and Jas had brought along a necklace she'd made from seashells, so it's not like her birthday was going by _entirely_ unnoticed. Just by her mom.

"I'm heading out to JojaMart," grumbled Pam, coughing through a thick layer of alcohol-soaked phlegm. She zipped up a coat and raised the hood over her head. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Bye, mom," said Penny, half-heartedly.

Penny was sitting down at the table with her class notes sprawled across it as she tried to formulate her lesson plans for the coming months. It wasn't exactly her ideal way of spending her birthday, but it was better than being out "celebrating" with others while they got increasingly drunk at the saloon. Penny had made a promise to herself after Pam fell into alcoholism that she would almost never drink. She was determined not to let her life become her mother's life.

Jolting her out of deep thought about whether or not next week the kids should have a spelling test, there was a hard, rapid series of five knocks at the door. As Penny glanced up, the door opened and a man in a completely drenched raincoat stepped through. He shook himself around to fling the loose water droplets off on the mat and lowered his hood to reveal Sam's face grinning at her.

"Hey, Penny!" Sam continued grinning, zipping down his coat. "I'm sorry, I really had to step in from the rain there. Can I come in?"

"Yeah of course, Sam." Penny set her pen down on the table and straightened out her top. Sam never visited for her birthday, and she could feel a small nervous smile spreading across her face.

"Thanks," said Sam, crossing the room towards her and laying his coat on the back of the seat opposite her. He sat down, and clasped his hands together, a grin still on his face. "So," he said, looking straight at her. Still watching her, he reached into his pocket and produced something wrapped in foil, setting it on the table in front of her. "Happy birthday."

Penny glanced down at the small, foil package. "Thanks, Sam," she beamed, trying to avoid any tone of surprise that he'd actually produced a present. "I really appreciate it." Penny did her best to look him in the eyes as she spoke, but his handsome gaze was a little too hard to watch without blushing.

"I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to wrap it properly," said Sam, flicking the strands of damp golden hair out of his eyes. "Open it," he grinned again.

Penny reached for the package and peeled away the aluminum foil. After a bit of struggling, she started using both hands to pry it away, as it was sticking to whatever was inside. Once she'd finally peeled back the lowest layer, she could see that inside was a sticky maple bar. It was a kind of doughnut coated in a rich, thick maple glaze. Penny liked them, certainly, but it wasn't exactly what she was expecting. Still, she knew for a fact that Sam absolutely loved them, so she appreciated it as a gift from him.

"Awesome," she smiled at him, sliding it in the foil towards her. "Thanks, Sam!"

"You're welcome, Penny," Sam was twiddling his thumbs, looking around at all the work and paper strewn across the table. "You're a real hard worker."

Penny blushed slightly. "Just trying to make sure the kids do well."

Sam shrugged. "Still, you work hard. I wanted to ask you if you could help me with something."

Penny raised her eyebrows, picking up her pen to fiddle with. "What's up?"

"Well we're gonna get the band up and running," said Sam, his twiddling thumbs slowing down. "And I wondered if you could be our manager."

"Manager?" said Penny, her eyebrows still arching. "Sam, I don't know the first thing about managing a band."

"Yeah but you're super smart," Sam grinned, tapping on the table for emphasis. "And I know you're looking to buy a new place so you don't live here anymore."

Penny's eyes widened slightly. She'd been talking to Robin for months – although it had felt like years – about building her a new home somewhere in Pelican Town. Robin was more than eager to help her and take on the hugely profitable contract of crafting a new home from scratch, but Penny didn't have nearly enough money to fit the bill. It hadn't helped that her mom was now out of work ever since the Calico Desert bus had broken down, and Pam had in fact been leaching off Penny's teaching money to pay for her booze. Penny had barely been keeping both of them afloat, let alone saving up enough to _build_ a brand new house. If Sam was offering payment, that could change everything. But before Penny could say anything, Sam put that dream to rest.

"I mean, we can't afford to pay you right now, but you know, I figure once our band gets going, we'll be making some serious cash." Sam was grinning from ear to ear now, and still had a ream of things to say. "It'll be great, it's me, Seb and Abby," he sniffed, tapping on the table again as he listed off names. "Then I figured Alex could be our head of security, he's always working out. Maru could probably build and run our light rigs and sound systems." Penny shook her head lightly and smiled in disbelief as Sam kept going. "Oh and Emily could probably design our stage costumes, and maybe, uh, maybe Leah could help her out too, she's artsy, right?" Sam shrugged. "Oh and if we need a female singer for some songs, Haley could sing. You ever heard her sing? I reckon she can sing. Probably doesn't matter anyway, she's pretty, Maru could probably make a singing robot and we'll dub her over. Oh!" Sam slapped his hand gleefully on the table. "If we want to get deep with our lyrics we can probably ask Elliot to get involved, he writes stuff. You see how it all fits together?" Sam's grin, throughout his entire spiel, hadn't faded once.

"Sam," said Penny softly, trying to let him down gently. "I just can't afford to-"

"The whole town could get involved!" he blurted, now entirely carried away on a train of thought. "We could call the band, like, the Pelican Town Prairies or something. Or, or, hey, what about, Stardew Stardrops? Or the Valley Kings? What do you think?"

"Sam," laughed Penny, trying to derail his endless stream of words, but finding it all very amusing. "I can't, Sam." She'd managed to look him in the eyes when she said this. "I can't afford to work for free, I need to either be focusing on one job, or paid for two. I'm sorry…"

There was a short, uncomfortable gap in the conversation. Only the rain hammering the aluminum roof could be heard.

"Okay, well…" said Sam, noticeably disheartened. Penny felt slightly ill at having caused it. "Think about it, maybe? Give it a week?"

Penny nodded. "Sure. I will."

"Great. Well," Sam got to his feet and grabbed his coat, a little bit less gloomy than he'd just been. "I should head out. Maybe I'll go see Alex and get him on board," he smiled, pulling his coat on and zipping it up.

"Good idea." Penny smiled, trying to be as nice as she could to make up for hurting him.

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." Sam was now by the doorway, and gave a small wave. "Anyway, see you later, Penny!" He yanked his hood up and over his golden hair, and stepped out into the rain.

The rain continued pounding all day. Penny tried to get back to her work, and was eager to avoid thinking about having to tell Sam in a week or so that she still couldn't do it. Almost half an hour after Sam had left, Pam came strolling through the door, the clatter making Penny jump as the door banged against the inside wall.

"Happy birthday!" She yelled, overestimating how loud the rain was. In her hand she was clutching a large bottle of something. With a yellow-toothed grin, she clanged the bottle down on the table and kissed her on the forehead. "Happy birthday, girl."

It was a large bottle of JojaMart's "Surplus Salmonberry" wine. Penny wasn't sure whether to laugh or lash out. Her mom really had no idea about her, did she? Diplomatically, she beamed at the bottle, took it in her hands and gave the most enthusiastic "thanks, mom!" that she could muster.

"You're welcome, hun." Pam patted her on the back. "Listen, I'm heading back out." She didn't need to say where she was going, they both knew that it was the saloon. "Enjoy it." Pam turned around, having not even taken off her coat and made to leave. "Oh, wait before I forget," she said, spinning around on the spot and reaching into her coat pocket. "You had some mail." She placed three letters down on the table in front of her. "See you, hun." With another toothy grin, Pam strolled back outside.

Placing her pen down and moving the bottle to one side – the bottle she was fully aware would be consumed by her mom – and turned her attention to the three letters. She recognized the clumsy handwriting of the first one and couldn't help but smile as she turned over the small red envelope to open. The card inside read:

 _Miss Penny,_

 _Happy birthday! Thanks for being the best teacher I've ever had. I'm learning a lot and mom says soon with enough hard work I'll be smarter than Sam._

 _Love_ _From,_

 _Vincent_

Putting it to one side, Penny picked up the second envelope. It was a light blue envelope with very tidy handwriting. Once again she recognized the handwriting.

 _Dear Penny,_

 _Happy birthday! Can you believe it's that time of year again? Hope you have a fantastic day._

 _Love,_

 _Maru, Sebastian, Robin and Demetrius_

Penny placed the card gently next to Vincent's card and made a mental note to thank Maru the next time she saw her. The last card had handwriting she didn't recognize. It was a very plain white envelope and the writing wasn't anything particularly unusual or unique. When Penny held it up to examine it a little closer, she realized it had a little more weight to it than she was expecting. Her curiosity piqued, she turned it over and carefully cut it open.

 _Penny,_

 _Happy birthday!_

 _I'm sorry I couldn't swing by to see you today but I've been kept very busy at the farm, I'm gearing up for the fall season. I hope you're having a really great day._

 _I managed to talk Gunther into letting me take this back from his museum, on the grounds that I try my best to find another one for him._

 _I hope you like it. Talk to you soon._

 _John_

As Penny tipped the envelope over, a very tiny package wrapped in red paper fell out onto the table. She set down the envelope and held up the package. Whatever was inside felt about the size of a large grape. She carefully peeled back the wrapping paper and soon found herself holding a fire opal. If she wasn't mistaken, it was the very same fire opal that she'd held back in Spring.

Penny couldn't help but break into a very gentle, happy smile as she turned the gem over in her hands.

* * *

Tuesday, Fall 2nd, Year 1


	6. Across the River - Fall 17th

It was a rather unusual morning. Penny had woken up to a trailer that was almost just as clean as she had left it the night before. Pam was peacefully passed out on the couch, but there was no sign of alcohol or spillages anywhere. She couldn't help but smile slightly, although the smile faded slightly when she realized that this unusual morning is probably the kind of morning most people experience; where there isn't an enormous mess waiting for you.

Still, content that she could leave almost immediately, she grabbed her current book off the table and tucked her class notes inside it before heading out.

Penny glanced around her, always trying to remember to stop and admire the beauty of the valley. Alex was out by his house doing his usual thing, tossing his football in the air and catching it, each time going higher. _It was a shame that no one else in the valley played football,_ Penny thought. _Hadn't Shane talked about football once? Maybe that was gridball._ She couldn't quite remember.

Meanwhile, Lewis, the town mayor, was around the side of his house, doing something to the door of his pickup truck. Beside him was Marnie, who seemed to be leaning in rather closely to him. Penny realized at that moment that she hadn't really talked to Marnie about anything other than her niece, Jas. She made a mental note to do her best to try and branch out and talk to her about something else. But that could wait for another day.

Her gaze continued around to the river, across which was the library and museum where she'd later be tutoring the kids. Further along the river was the blacksmith shop and beyond that was JojaMart, but her eyes never made it that far. Just outside the blacksmith's was someone she hadn't expected to see. John was sitting alone in the grass along the other side of the riverbank, staring at the gentle river, his cap tilted at a slightly off angle, his eyes slightly glazed. He looked tired, as if he'd been pushing himself quite hard. Even his backpack, which was lying in the grass alongside him, looked like it had endured a _lot_ of work. He'd been very kind to her in the few interactions they'd had, but _stupid shy Penny had ruined it_ , she thought. She wanted to be friends with him, especially as she thought it was a good challenge to help tackle her inner introvert – by befriending a stranger.

Nodding to herself and noting that it was just outside the library anyway, Penny decided to cross the river and sit on the bank with John. _Would he think that was strange? Inappropriate? Maybe she shouldn't do it. No, Penny,_ she thought. _Stop overthinking and just go, what's the worst that can happen?_

Lost in thought, she made her way over to John.

"Hi, John." Penny held her book close to her chest. "This looked like a pretty peaceful spot. Mind if I sit and read here before I go teach the kids?"

John, who'd seemingly been lost in a daze of thoughts, shook himself out of his stupor and looked up at her. "No, of course, please." Penny smiled and sat down, quickly opening her book. "I'd appreciate the company." John returned her smile, cheerily. Unable to think of something to say, Penny smiled at him a second time and quickly busied herself with her book.

What felt like a few hours passed. When Penny realized that she wasn't actually taking in what she was reading and was instead lost in thought about her mom's drinking problem, she decided to try and talk with John instead. "Do you think… do you think you'll enter the fishing contest?"

John glanced over at her, and looked a little lost. "Umm..." John rubbed the back of his head, slowly. "Fishing contest?"

"Yeah," Penny lowered her book to her lap, closing it gently. She was a little nervous at having asked the question, and tried her hardest to mask that in her voice. "At the Festival of Ice, there's an ice fishing competition."

"Oh, ice fishing? That sounds cool," he said, grinning. "Yeah, I suppose I'll give it a shot." John shifted with his hands, pushing his small backpack aside, sitting up a little straighter than he was before. "Will you?"

Penny blushed slightly. "I can't fish."

John cocked his head gently, with a faint smile on his face. "What do you mean you "can't"? I bet you could."

Penny shook her head, still blushing. "I've never done it before. Willy wanted to show me once, but I was on my way to teach Jas and Vincent, and it just seemed-"

"I could teach you."

Penny smiled shyly, and looked out towards the river, her blush deepening slightly. "I guess there are some things books can't teach."

John crossed his legs and joined her in gazing at the river. The flow of water lapping and burbling along the bank was strangely mesmerizing. "It's the least I can do to pay you back for keeping me company," said John, not moving his gaze away from the flowing stream.

Penny laughed quietly and glanced at him. "You looked like you could use the company. Not that me reading quietly beside you can really be called 'company'." She laughed again, but this time a little meeker, as if her own words had hurt her a little. "What, um," Penny placed her book down on the grass and shifted slightly to face John, determined to keep a conversation going, "what were you doing here, anyway?"

"Oh. Well," John plucked the small cap off his head and scratched lightly at his head of brown hair. "I'm waiting for Clint to see if he can fix up my pickaxe. I busted it, thought I might as well get an upgrade."

Penny looked at him, bemused. Her bright green eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "A pickaxe? What for?"

John chuckled, placing the cap back on his head. "I was mining."

"You were in the mines? Why?"

"It's a good way of getting stone, and a bit of coal. Plus it's pretty fun." He shrugged, with a small grin. "An adventure."

"I'm impressed." She smiled at him softly. "I'd never go in the mines."

"Maybe you should come with me sometime!" John chuckled. "After we've gone fishing, of course."

...

The two sat in pleasant tranquility for a few more minutes. Stardew Valley was slowly winding its way towards Winter. The trees and bushes were bursting with brilliant shades of red, gold and amber. Breathing in the clean and crisp autumnal air, John found it very difficult to imagine his life before coming to the valley. And yet it hadn't even been a full year since he'd packed up his desk job and followed in his grandfather's footsteps. An image of his grandfather flashed across his mind. He hoped, he really hoped, that his grandfather would be proud of him.

He glanced over at Penny, who was still sitting beside him. She had her head half-buried in a book entitled "Teacher's Guidebook: 2nd Grade", and her face suggested that she was in a state of deep concentration. Her vibrant red hair was held back with a small golden clip. John smiled to himself as he realized that the clip was there solely to keep hair out of her eyes whilst she was reading.

...

"Those kids are really lucky, you know," said John, earnestly.

Penny glanced up from her book. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that there's no school in Pelican Town, but they've got you. You give them a chance they wouldn't normally have. I admire you for it."

Penny's blush resurfaced, a little redder. "I get paid though, it's not like it's the kindness of my heart. And it's only Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays."

John had a warm smile spreading across his face. "I bet you'd do it anyway, payment or not. Am I wrong?"

Penny's cheeks continued burning red. "Maybe," she eventually admitted, unable to stop an awkward laugh. "They're the future."

"You might say that you're giving a future to our future," he chuckled.

"I just wish that I could-"

"John?" called a voice from behind him. John craned his neck over his shoulder, and saw Clint standing just outside his blacksmith shop, holding a shiny pickaxe. "I got that pick fixed up for you. Actually," he said, stepping closer to John and handing him the pickaxe carefully, "it's a new one, a steel one. The old one was… well, unfixable."

"Great, thanks, Clint. I'll look after this one," said John, smiling and turning the pickaxe over in his hands and examining it. Clint returned the smile and, with a quick nod to both John another one to Penny, he returned to his shop. Penny had always admired Clint. There was something endearingly awkward about him, a trait with which she was all too familiar.

"Well, I guess I should go, Penny," said John. He began stuffing the handle of the pickaxe into a small backpack and zipped it up so that the head was sticking out, but secured. "It was nice to talk to you."

"You too," Penny beamed, actually meaning it, and feeling a warm sensation, proud of herself that she'd _actually enjoyed_ human contact.

John pulled himself to his feet. "What are you doing tomorrow? Let's say… around mid-day?"

"Tomorrow? Why?"

"Fishing. Fall's almost over and I don't think either of us will want to sit and fish in the snow."

Penny giggled. "Oh, you were serious."

"I've only ever been fishing with Willy!" said John, chuckling. "And when he's 'working the waters' as he calls it, he doesn't talk much." John grinned at her. "Thought it might be nice to fish with someone else for a change."

Penny paused briefly, thinking. She knew that she wanted to, but she deliberated over how to say it. "Sure, let's do it," she said.

"Great, I'll see you here tomorrow." John slung the backpack onto his shoulders with a small grunt. "See you 'round!" he said, with the flash of a final smile before moving away.

Penny waved him goodbye as John moved further along the riverbank, crossed the small stone footbridge across from the museum and in towards town. She closed her book slowly, gazing at the leaves gliding gently down from the nearby trees. She was very proud of what she'd just done. She'd conquered her fears and put herself in a social situation. And she'd liked it.

A figure approached on her left.

"Penny?"

"Gunther?" Penny turned to face him, still sitting on the riverbank. She was startled by the sight of him, as she wasn't sure she'd ever actually seen him outside of the library before. "What is it?"

"Jas and Vincent came in a few minutes ago without you, I came to see if you were-"

"Oh shoot," Penny scrambled to her feet, hastily grabbing the book and straightening out her skirt. "I didn't realize it was that time already. Sorry!" she shouted as she rushed past Gunther towards the library.

* * *

Wednesday, Fall 17th, Year 1

Thanks for reading!

So, in this chapter we've had Penny's first interaction with John on her own terms. The ice is breaking, and the two are getting closer. I hope you're enjoying it all so far! Please let me know what you think.

 **Side Note:** This was actually the first chapter of this story that was written, and unfortunately, I think it shows - I'm not overly happy with the quality of this chapter! Also, there's a couple of paragraphs in there from John's perspective - they're separated from the rest of the text with centered ellipses (...).


	7. Aye, Fishing - Fall 18th

It didn't surprise Penny at all to wake up to a messy trailer. Pam hadn't exactly been quiet when she'd stumbled in from the saloon at some ungodly hour and tried to cook chicken nuggets. A tray of half-cooked nuggets sat on top of the oven, which Penny had to turn off. Although she was unsure how or why Pam had gotten half-way through cooking the nuggets before giving up, it wasn't the strangest thing she'd found after one of her mom's nights out. There had been that time she opened the bedroom door and was greeted by one of Marnie's cows, and that time the room had been covered in slime and soot, and that time she found a purple pair of men's shorts that Pam flat-out refused to explain. Compared to those nights, the trailer was practically spotless right now. Penny sighed as it dawned on her that a long morning of cleaning was ahead of her.

Almost like clockwork at this stage, she followed through with the routine. She peered around the corner into the trailer's lounge to check that her mom was there, and breathing. She was. In fact, she was awake and getting properly dressed. Penny pulled her head back around the corner, trying not to catch her eye. Next, she opened the cupboard under the sink and fetched her well-worn yellow rubber gloves. She took out all the cleaning products they had, made a mental note to get more from Pierre's later, and began her deep clean.

"I'm going out," Pam grumbled, a cigarette in her hand. "Need a walk to clear my head."

"Okay mom," said Penny, scraping food scraps into the bin. "I love you."

"Yeah, yeah, you too." Pam stumbled through the door and it clacked shut behind her.

Penny was halfway through scrubbing a plate clean when there was a knock at the door. As she turned around to check, the door opened slowly, and John stepped in. "Hey, Penny." He stood in the doorway, holding the door open slightly with one hand and grasping a fishing pole in the other. "Are we still on for fishing today, or…?"

"Oh no," Penny's eyes darted towards the clock. She'd agreed to meet John fifteen minutes ago. "I'm so sorry John, I didn't know it was this late." She brushed some hair out of her eyes, realizing she hadn't even gotten ready for the day yet. "I got caught up trying to keep this place clean."

"That's okay," John smiled. He took a short half-step back out the door, before saying, "should we do it another time?"

"I think…" Penny bit her lip, looking around the trailer. It was still a complete pig sty. "I think so. I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't be," John smiled again. With a slight pause, he took a small step back inside. "Can I help?"

Penny smiled at him sweetly. "Help? Help me clean, you mean?"

"Sure, why not?" John stepped forward and closed the door fully behind him. He rested his fishing pole against the wall. "Maybe if we work together we can finish fast enough to get out and start fishing."

"You'll help me? You really mean it?" Penny crossed her arms, still smiling.

"Yeah, how can I help?" John grinned, stepping closer into the kitchen.

"Okay, well," Penny turned to look at the messy room. "Why don't you start on the lounge, and I'll finish up here in the kitchen. Is that okay?"

John chuckled. "Of course!" He rolled up the sleeves of his thick jumper and began picking up various bits of trash and gathering clothes into a pile. Penny watched him for a few seconds, the soft smile still lingering on her face.

...

After only twenty minutes, when they'd almost finished, Pam stepped through the door. She paused, staring at John, bemused. Her mouth was slack as she gaped at him, her yellowing teeth on full display. She glanced back and forth between the two before settling on a glare at a timid-looking Penny.

"Whaddya think you're doing?" Pam barked. Penny flinched slightly.

"Mom, the house is a mess…" she began, clearing her throat. "John and I were just trying to tidy things up a bit." She paused, a suspicious look on her face. She stepped closer to Pam, who tried to casually step away. "Mom… were you at the saloon just now? You smell like beer…"

Pam tightened her fists. At that very instant, Penny was very glad that John was there with her. She knew this would have gone down very differently had he not been there. "It's none of your damn business where I go!"

Imbued with a sense of courage from John's protective presence, Penny retaliated. "But it _is_ my business, mom! I don't want you destroying yourself." She put her hand on Pam's shoulder, who was now facing away from her. "Don't you realize your choices have an effect on me? Stop being so selfish!"

"Selfish?" snarled Pam, wrenching Penny's hand off of her. "I put a roof over your head and clothes on your back and you call me selfish?! You ungrateful little…" Pam turned back around to face Penny, fury boiling up inside her, her face contorted into a very uncomfortable looking ball. As if she'd only just spotted John, she pushed Penny aside to address him. "You should go. I'm sorry you had to see this, kid."

John nodded silently and put down the t-shirt he'd been clearing away. He tiptoed over to his fishing rod and opened the door. Before he left, he managed to catch Penny's attention over Pam's shoulder. He pointed at his fishing rod in his hand and mouthed the words "I'll be outside" to her, with a quick thumbs up and a sympathetic smile. He closed the door behind him as gently and as quietly as possible.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Pam continued glaring at Penny. Finally, with a grunt and a cough, Pam said, "He's a nice young man…" Penny, who'd been staring at her shoes, glanced up at her, confused. It wasn't exactly what she'd expected to hear. "But," Pam grabbed Penny on the shoulder with her left hand and waggled a fat finger at her with the other. "I don't want you tellin' others to clean up my house! It's embarrassing! You understand?"

Penny nodded, silently, her head drooping down to stare at her shoes again. She'd been expecting a much harsher confrontation than this, maybe even something physical. Still, it was gutting to be yelled at for doing what she thought was a good thing.

"Yes, mother," said Penny, in a feeble whisper.

"Good." Pam gently held Penny's chin, and pulled her head back up to face her. "I'm going to have a lie down. Thanks for cleaning." The stench of booze on her breath was fierce and Penny struggled not to grimace.

Penny nodded and began removing her gloves and clearing away her cleaning products. She wanted to get out as soon as she could. Even though it only took her a couple of minutes to clear things away, Pam had already passed out on the sofa before Penny was ready to leave. She sighed, blew a kiss in her mom's direction, and left the trailer.

...

"Hey, Penny," John called, walking briskly towards her from the riverbank. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you," she said, earnestly. "Honestly it's more common than you might think… so I'm used to it."

"Well I'm glad you're okay," said John, rubbing her right arm softly. "I'd hate to see you upset."

"Thanks, John." Penny smiled warmly. "So… fishing. I'm usually more of a reader than a fisher."

John laughed. "We can go and read together in the library if you'd prefer!"

"No no, we're fishing now," said Penny, laughing and then pausing before adding, "but we should definitely do that sometime!"

She felt a brief wave of confidence wash over her. She felt fine, she felt okay, she didn't feel… shy. She _wanted_ to talk to John, she _wanted_ to hang out with him. It was truly a really welcome feeling.

"So," she said as she started walking towards the river, and John followed on behind her, "are we fishing here?"

"Not quite," said John, a wide grin on his face. "Feel like a walk on the beach?"

...

The weather had managed to hold for the day and give them enough warmth to brave the sandy shoreline in relative comfort. Although every now and then a stiff sea breeze would come crashing through and send shivers down Penny's spine. As the two of them made their way towards the main pier, just off Willy's fishing shack, Penny thought of something she'd been meaning to say for a little while now. Something that she'd been meaning to get off her chest.

"John," she started, as they continued walking across the sand. "I wanted to… to apologize." She looked up at him and he was returning a blank, somewhat confused expression. "About the Flower Dance, back in Spring," she added, with a small nervous laugh.

"The Flower Dance?" John echoed. "Oh, Penny, don't worry about that, I understand." He chuckled lightly and smiled at her, stepping from the shore onto the creaky wooden pier.

Penny's introverted nature overpowered her again and got the better of her. Instead of continuing with her apology, she just returned his smile and kept walking. She hated it when she did that. She felt so weak.

Soon enough, in the silence that followed, they reached the end of the pier.

"Now I haven't been using bait, and Willy tells me it's all about the bait," John laughed, leaning in to sit down on the edge of the pier. With a small grunt, he sat himself on the edge, his legs dangling off the side. "Willy would also tell me that a real fisherman stands up, but I'll be damned if sitting isn't the comfier way to go."

Penny was still distracted by what she'd intended to say, and wasn't really taking in what John was saying. She sat down gently and shuffled in next to John.

"So, here you are," John handed her the fishing rod. "So here you've got-" John was midway through pointing at the fishing rod and explaining what to do when he stopped himself. "Penny, are you alright?"

Penny swallowed. Her hands were sweaty. Clammy. "I was rude to you, John," she said slowly, watching his expression. His face made it clear that he was both confused and in disagreement, but he remained silent because it sounded like she had more to say. "Not just at the Flower Dance, but when we first met, too."

"Rude?" chimed John, as if it was the most absurd thing he'd heard all day. "I don't ever remember you being rude. Shy, maybe, but not rude."

Penny winced, turning her gaze away from him. There it was, that word again. _Shy_. It always came down to _shy_. Anyone who knew her would eventually boil her personality down to that one word. _Shy_. Maybe _bookish_ too. She hated it. The one thing she wanted more than anything in the world was to come out of her shell, and cast off ' _shy'_ for good. But it just wasn't happening.

And yet… here she was, sitting on the edge of a pier, with a man who hadn't even been there a year, doing… fishing, of all things! _Maybe_ _I've been so caught up thinking about breaking out of my shell that I didn't even notice it happen?_

Encouraged by her own tangential train of thought, she turned her head and looked John in the eyes. She hadn't actually spotted it before, but they were a rather deep shade of blue, with intermittent flecks of steel grey. Perhaps the ocean made them look bluer.

"I got nervous, when you asked me to dance with you," she said, her gaze unfaltering. "Not at the library, but when you asked at the dance. Sam, he…"

"Sam was your dance partner," John nodded, "I know that now. Actually," he said, tapping his chin thoughtfully, "I should've known that the day before, Vincent told me in the library that Sam would ask you, remember? I'm sorry about all that."

"No, no, don't be sorry." Penny placed the fishing rod down on the pier between them. "When you asked me at the dance, he hadn't actually asked me yet… I got nervous, and…" Penny let out a quiet, nervous giggle, "Before I knew what I was saying, I'd said no."

John pursed his lips, then broke into a soft grin. "Penny, it's okay, I totally get it. Look, I was pretty much a stranger back then, I wasn't really thinking."

"And you ended up not dancing. I felt so bad." Penny bit her lip slightly, glancing away from him. "I'm sorry. Sam only asked me last minute, anyway," she shrugged, still biting her lip. "Because Abigail didn't ask him…"

There was a brief silence, punctuated only by the crashing of the waves and the cooing of seagulls. "Penny," John started, softly. "Please, don't feel bad. I'd hate to make you feel guilty." He reached out and held her by the shoulder, squeezing it gently. Penny wasn't quite sure what it was that she was feeling. His hand was strong and calloused, yet somehow soft and comforting. It left an odd, tingling feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Tell you what," said John, in a perkier voice. He didn't continue until Penny turned back to face him. When she did, he was wearing a warm, comforting smile. "You can make it up to me. How's about we dance together next year?"

A rush of nervous energy smashed against Penny's chest and dissipated all over her body. She felt weak, sick and exhilarated all at the same time. She almost laughed at the strangeness of such a feeling.

In that instant, she began to realize for the first time that she was harboring feelings for John. _But did he feel the same way?_ That was the key question. There was no way of knowing such a thing. _Probably not_ , she thought. After all, _why would he? A farmer like him would be after a hard working woman who could help him work the land and get things done, not a meek, bookish and shy introvert like me._ She shuddered that she'd called herself 'bookish' and 'shy', but it was true.

"What do you think?" John prompted, a warm smile still adorning his face.

"I think…" Penny watched his face closely, trying to gauge his reaction. "Sounds like a date."

"Great!" said John, beaming at her. His face was tricky for Penny to read, though; he seemed to smile a lot, so it was difficult to know if it meant anything at all.

"So," Penny cleared her throat, trying to move on and pretend that her awkward emotional apology hadn't just happened. "Fishing."

John chuckled. "Yes, fishing!"

A third voice came from behind them. "Aye, fishing." Neither of them had noticed Willy slip in behind them, sucking and puffing from his brown pipe. "But don't be telling me that you plan to fish _sitting down_?"

* * *

Thursday, Fall 18th, Year 1

Thanks for reading, guys! Please let me know what you think of the story so far, constructive criticism or compliments are always welcome!

It looks like Penny has finally realized that she has feelings for John. Where will things go from here? Does John feel the same way? Will he? Up next is a three part special (may even be four parts - we'll find out together!)

 **Side Note:** Penny notes that she's fifteen minutes late to meet John, which, as you seasoned Stardew Valley players will know, isn't possible in-game because time moves in ten minute increments.


	8. Spirit's Eve - Part 1 of 3 - Fall 28th

**Spirit's Eve Festival - Part 1/3**

 **...**

* * *

Penny stood in silence, gazing into the gloopy green liquid that filled the cauldron in front of her. It was Spirit's Eve, the Stardew Valley festival marking the end of Fall, and she was standing somewhere in the middle of a dark maze, near a dead end. The maze had been whipped up in a flash by the town wizard for the festival, and apparently there was some sort of prize at the end. But that didn't matter to Penny, she'd wound up here, and never quite managed to tear herself away. For the first time in a very long time, she felt completely miserable. Really, truly miserable.

Spirit's Eve had kicked off with a bit of a punch in the teeth.

...

When Penny had first come out of her trailer for the evening, she was looking forward to the festivities. It generally didn't involve too much awkward socializing, and sometimes, there were a few things set up that were scary enough to cause Sam to latch on to her. This time, the exhibit was more morbidly fascinating than scary. Somehow, the wizard had erected a cage which contained within it two live skeletons who were simply walking around, defying the natural world. Demetrius was the most intrigued, watching them and exclaiming that it must be some sort of optical illusion or trickery, as there was no way skeletons could _actually_ walk.

The town square was adorned with various glowing jack-o-lanterns, spooky ghosts and some realistic looking demon cut-outs. There were several large ornate tables, embellished with happy pumpkin faces, set out in the square. They were overflowing with all sorts of festive treats, meats, sweets and pastries. Most of the residents of Pelican Town were either at their family's table or gawking at the skeletons. Some people were missing, but Penny assumed that meant they were in the maze.

It wasn't the skeletons or the food that immediately caught Penny's attention, however. Sam and Abigail were on the other side of the town square, making their way into the maze together. Maru was busy with Robin and Sebastian at their table, so Penny went after Sam and Abby in the hopes of hanging out with people she felt comfortable with. Of course, it was always an option to hang out in her trailer all night, but she didn't want to be seen as antisocial. Even though she knew that she was.

Penny stepped into the maze. A long path stretched off to her left and another off to her right. The walls of the maze were thick, impenetrable hedges, at least ten feet high, and they curled in on themselves at the top, almost blanketing her from the night sky. At a guess, she darted left and followed a small path all the way up to a dead end. Backtracking, she made her way around further left and found herself in yet another dead end. After a bit more trial and error, and bumping awkwardly into Doctor Harvey, she finally stumbled across the dead end where Sam and Abby were. Penny froze.

Huddled in a corner, Abigail had Sam up against the hedge and was kissing him, passionately. Excessively. They were locked together in a lively embrace, their eyes tightly closed. Penny's heart ached as she backed away around the corner, unnoticed. She stood there, silently contemplating what she'd just seen. Sam and Abby…

A flurry of emotions pummeled her at once, far too many to comprehend or even process. She felt as though her insides were filling with boiling water. Penny stood stock still, as if her brain had overloaded and blown a fuse, the blankest of expressions on her face. Above all else, she just felt awash with a sudden torpor, and all she could do was think about how tired she was. Rundown. Exhausted.

Zombie-like, almost as if the combination of all her thoughts exploding at once had sucked the energy straight out of her, she willed her legs into movement, unsteadily at first, but consistently. She wandered, lost in thought, stumbling from dead-end to dead-end, as if going through the motions of the maze on autopilot was all that her brain could handle right now.

She'd always thought, or perhaps always hoped, that Sam had feelings for her. She'd certainly always had feelings for Sam. He'd been there for her for some of her darkest moments. He'd helped get Pam home from the saloon on more than one occasion, once on his birthday, and he'd even kissed Penny on the cheek once when he'd had a bit too much pale ale. He'd been a shoulder to cry on when her mom fought with her. They'd climbed trees together, had a picnic together, had once even had a conversation about how they both wanted kids in the future. He'd always told her how smart she was, and how he wanted her to be his band's manager, once they'd "really got going". Abby had been around him a lot, sure, and maybe Penny had been jealous once or twice, but she'd always thought he spent more time with her than Abby. Penny grappled with the rising urge to hate Abby, and just about managed to suppress it, scrunching her eyes closed as if physically barring the thought from returning. The sheer volume of memories, thoughts and feelings flinging themselves around her brain began to form a dull, blanketing pain.

Penny found herself wandering into yet again another dead-end, this time with a locked shack and a bubbly green cauldron. She slammed her back into the door of the shack and sank to the ground. She waited for the grief to overcome her, for the tears to roll, for the spasms of sorrow to take her. But it never came.

Penny spent the next ten minutes rooted to that spot, staring down the path she'd just walked, her brain still catapulting thoughts around as she tried to deal with what she'd just witnessed. She knew that watching Sam kissing someone else would be difficult, but she had no idea it would crush her this hard. And _why…_ _why_ _did it have to be Abigail?_

Her brain still running freely without her, she eventually dragged herself back to her feet. The avalanche of thoughts led her back, as it always did, to her mom.

And then her dad.

Her dad had left them several years ago. Penny hadn't seen it coming, and she was pretty sure her mom hadn't either. It had all happened so fast. His bag was packed long before he'd even said anything. She remembered a huge fight between his mom and dad; a fight punctuated with harsh, deep-cutting words and clattering projectiles as things such as beer cans and shoes were hurtled across the room. It had ended with her dad screaming that he felt "trapped", and without so much as a backwards glance at Penny, he left. And in one fell swoop, her life had begun to fall in on itself.

Penny slapped her forehead, as if she could physically shove the memories out of her head. Her dad had left them around this time of year, in the Fall. And every _single_ year, she failed to forget it. It had all come hurrying back.

As she was about to leave - the idea of collapsing into bed suddenly very appealing - the bubbling green cauldron in front of her caught her eye. She stared at it for a moment, then peered in. It was a mesmerizing swirl and haze of smells and patterns. She wasn't sure how long she stood there, but it felt like quite a long time, deep in thought. Exploring her own mind. Drowning in thoughts. Feeling exactly what it felt like to be her, and quite frankly, it felt awful. And that was where she stood, contemplating how little and yet how much had happened that evening.

And she was really, truly, miserable.

...

"Oh, hey Penny!" The familiar voice of John called cheerily over from her left. "I guess this is a dead-end, huh? Cool cauldron." John wandered over to the other side of the cauldron and peered in curiously. "Trying to figure out the maze," he piped up, still very cheery. "Have you figured it out yet?"

"Not yet," she croaked weakly. She cleared her throat hastily, caught off guard by how much her voice had cracked.

"Ah well, we'll get there. I hear there's a prize." John drummed his fingers along the rim of the cauldron.

"No one's ever found it though," said Penny, gloomily.

"That doesn't mean we can't!" chimed John, his optimism untouchable. "No one ever climbed a mountain until someone did. No one ever swam across an ocean until someone did. That prize is just _waiting_ for someone to find it."

Penny couldn't help but smile, at least weakly. She tore her gaze away from the cauldron and looked up at him. "Sure, _you_ might find it, mister miner, fisher, farmer extraordinaire." She waved her hands in the air as she spoke, her smile unfaltering.

"Don't forget 'explorer'," John added with a laugh, "I feel that's important in this case." He took a few steps around the cauldron, closer to her. Penny turned her attention shyly back to the cauldron. "But you know, I think finding this thing is going to take more than just knowing how to grow blueberries. I think it'll take some serious brainpower." He raised his eyebrows at her, and she looked up at him. "Which is where you come in. So whaddya say?" He smiled warmly, in his trademark way. "I think we'd make a good team."

Penny folded her arms, trying to look confident, but extremely aware of her reddening cheeks. "I agree."

"Great!" John beamed at her. "But first there's something I want to ask you."

Penny's heart leapt. "What is it?" she said, slowly, unable to avoid the tone of curiosity in her voice.

John leaned in slightly closer. "Are you all right?"

Penny's mind went in every direction at once. _Did he see me mulling around? Did he hear me? Did he see me leaving Sam and Abby? Have I made a complete idiot of myself?_ Before she could finish her seemingly endless trail of thoughts and say something, John continued.

"I only ask, because… Well, because you seem very quiet. I know you have a lot to deal with what with the kids and your mum and her drinking and… Well, you must be under a lot of pressure." He reached out, and gently squeezed Penny's hand that was gripping the rim of the cauldron. Penny felt that same rush of nervous energy she last felt when they went fishing. "And I just want to make sure you're all right. Because it's okay if you're not."

It was in that moment, in hearing it all said out loud, that Penny felt an enormous weight lifted off her shoulders. A weight she had long forgotten was even there. Someone _actually_ cared about the situation she was in; someone was showing _genuine_ concern for her wellbeing, and not just laughing at her mom. It was more touching than anything her mother had said to her for the past few years. And he was right; he'd hit the nail on the head. Penny realized she was under an _enormous_ amount of pressure. Her mom's life problems had spilled over into her own and she was the only one who was there to try and help. Pam's problems always fell to Penny to solve. Taking on the issues of an alcoholic whilst trying to keep the house clean, teaching two kids and forcing herself to avoid blaming either her or her mom for her dad leaving them had definitely taken its toll. 'Pressure' didn't even _begin_ to describe it.

Penny bit her lip and tried in vain to hold back any tears. She was desperate not to cry in front of anyone, especially not John. But she just couldn't hold back the few rogue tears that broke through and streaked down her face.

"Oh, Penny," said John softly as he spotted the rogue tears. He let go of her hand and held her in a tight hug. She melted into his arms, more tears breaking through. "It's okay. It's okay…" John whispered, holding her head gently as she wept with growing vigor.

Penny wasn't even entirely sure why it was that she was crying, but she knew that she needed it. The surge of overpowering emotion had come pouring out, and she felt another huge weight lift away from her. She'd opened the floodgates and let go. After a few minutes or so, as her outpouring of emotion gradually petered away, she became very aware that she was putting most of her weight into John's chest. She pulled away from him, wiping her cheeks.

"Here," he said, reaching into his pocket and offering a clean and folded handkerchief to her. His other arm was still on her back, resting lightly along her shoulders.

"Thanks," she sniffed. "…For what you said, for this," she gestured with the handkerchief, "for everything."

"You don't need to thank me," John smiled, still not moving his arm from her back. "Although, I've got a proposition for you, if you'd like."

Once again, Penny's heart began beating a little faster. "What is it?"

"Well," John began, slowly. "We managed to get the bus working again, the one that runs the route to Calico Desert. Mayor Lewis said-"

"Mom used to drive that bus." Penny's eyes widened.

"Exactly! So, I mean, we can get Pam working again… and I know it's not much, but at least we know that while she's working, she's not at the saloon, and-"

Penny reached back for a second hug, this time a little tighter, on her terms. "Thank you, John… It's more than anyone's ever done for me and my mom." She pulled away, a great and cheery smile plastered to her face. "But, wait," Penny paused, her smile cooling into confusion, "how did you fix the bus?"

"Junimos," said John, plainly, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Junimos?" Penny echoed bluntly. Penny had read about Junimos plenty of times. They were tiny little round creatures, supposedly spirits of the forest and guardians of nature. But as far as she knew, they were fictional. _Weren't they?_

"They're real," John whispered, as if answering her thoughts. "I'll show you sometime."

Penny brushed her auburn-red hair behind her ear and smiled. "I look forward to it."

"Are you okay, though, Penny? That matters to me, you know." John held her arm lightly as he spoke.

"Yeah, John," Penny nodded, happily, "thanks to you… I am."

"That's great. Glad to hear it!" He let go of her arm and strolled around the other side of the cauldron. "Now…" he said, once again drumming his fingers along the rim of the cauldron. "Our prize is waiting to be found, Penny. Are you ready?"

Penny laughed. "Ready."

And with that, the two set off, side-by-side, back through the maze. To tackle it. Together.

* * *

Sunday, Fall 28th, Year 1 - Spirit's Eve

Today, Penny and John embark on their first adventure together! This day (Spirit's Eve, Fall 28th) will span over three parts, so this is part 1 out of 3!

Thanks so much for reading, guys. Please let me know what you think! I'd really appreciate it. :3

 **Side Note:** I'm really sorry if you guys got multiple notifications for this chapter - I uploaded and published it and it came out corrupted or something... Hmm. All seems to be resolved now, though!


	9. Spirit's Eve - Part 2 of 3 - Fall 28th

**...**

 **Spirit's Eve Festival - Part 2/3**

 **...**

* * *

"Nope, it's another dead end." John spun around, shrugging at Penny. "Nothing this way."

The two of them had spent the last half hour trying to find a way through to the end of the maze to reach the mysterious prize. In all the years that Stardew Valley held the Spirits' Eve festival, not a single person had been able to reach the prize. All that the maze seemed to be was a bizarre labyrinth of twists and turns that all eventually came to a pointless dead end.

"We must be missing something," said Penny, tapping her chin and glancing around. "We made it past the fountain and the giant spider things. This has to be the right way."

"Damn," a voice called from behind them. "We've been here before! Oh, hey guys!" Penny spun around, dreading that she recognized his voice. It was Sam, and Abby was with him. "I think this is just a dead end, guys," Sam added, not coming further down the path. Penny was straining herself to look casual as she completely avoided eye contact with both of them.

"Yeah, I think so," John called back, not turning to face Sam, instead inspecting a hedge. "If only I had my scythe, I could _make_ a way through," he chuckled.

"Well good luck guys!" Abby shouted as they turned around and went back the way they came.

Without meaning to, Penny let out an audible sigh of relief. She quickly clamped her eyes shut, hoping that John hadn't heard that. She really didn't want to talk about it. But, knowing her luck, of course John had heard.

"Penny?" he said softly, craning his neck to look at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah," she stammered, her cheeks reddening. "Just Sam, it's nothing."

"Sam?" he echoed, now pivoting around fully. "What about him?"

"Honestly it's nothing," said Penny, staring at her shoes, her face a burning crimson. "I'd really rather not talk about it."

"Yeah, of course," John stood back and moved to lean against the hedge. "Don't worry abou-"

Before he could finish, there was a soft fizzling sound from behind him, followed by a blinding flash of green light as he found himself collapsing backwards through the hedge. But it wasn't a hedge. When he touched it, it had popped and fizzled, as if it was some sort of leafy hologram. Hitting the ground with an almighty thud, John took several moments to process what had just happened. He was lying half-way through the bizarre fake hedge, his lower half on Penny's side, visibly fizzing and corrupting the hedge around him.

"John?" croaked Penny, bewildered. "What's happening?"

"I'm okay!" John called. His legs slowly merged through the hologram and he disappeared into the hedge. "Come on through!"

"What?"

"Come through! Walk through it!"

Penny eyed the hedge anxiously. She took a long, deep breath and tried to remember her motto for situations outside of her comfort zone. She'd come up with it for social situations though, she never imagined it might be used to walk through a hedge. _Getting this done is like jumping into a cold pool. Only one way – deep breath, then take the plunge._

Gingerly, Penny edged her way closer to the hedge. As her face came into contact with the leaves, they began to distort and fizzle away in front of her. As she stepped through, she could feel a strange warmth envelope her, as though she stood in the middle of a gentle tanning booth. It felt thick and tingly as the leaves of the hedge continued to pop and whizz around her. She closed her eyes and likened it to walking through a wall of heated, tingling jam. As she emerged back on the other side, it felt cold and uncomfortable in comparison. Bizarrely, she found herself _wanting_ to be back in the hologram hedge.

"That's one of the stranger things I've seen, I'll be honest." John was standing a few feet away from her, leaning against a tree, arms crossed, laughing. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

Penny giggled. "Didn't you?"

"Well no, I fell through it," said John, still laughing. He unfolded his arms, stepped around the tree and gestured for her to come over. "Look over here." He pointed down a narrow path that seemed to end in a dark passageway in the side of the rock wall.

"We found it?" Penny asked, moving closer down the path. As she drew nearer, she realized that it was some sort of subterranean corridor. It stank very strongly of pickled fish. "Yuck," Penny gagged slightly, "That's horrible."

"I can't see anything in there," said John, gingerly peering his head into the darkness. "It's pitch black."

A smile spread across Penny's face. "Well lucky for you, _Mister Farmer,_ " she grinned, reaching into her pocket and pulling out something small and gray. It wasn't clear what exactly it was until Penny flipped the switch on the back. It was a flexible LED light, the kind you'd attach to the back of a book to read in the dark. "You picked a very good teammate."

Penny's smile was infectious, and John couldn't help but join in. "Fantastic!" he beamed. "It's not exactly bright, but it'll do." John held his arm out in front of him and gestured with a nod towards the cave entrance. "Lead the way."

The passage was tight enough that Penny felt a small pang of panic as she entered, feeling quite suddenly short of breath. She wasn't normally claustrophobic, but this felt different somehow. Other than the increasingly quiet background noise of the Spirit's Eve festival, all she could hear were their shallow, rapid breaths and the squelching of wet clay as they continued to step slowly down the damp corridor. She could feel the warmth of John's breath periodically tickling the back of her neck. It was no wonder he was keeping close, though; her book light didn't exactly light the way very well.

As they drew deeper and deeper into the damp, dark passage, all light and sound from the outside world had been replaced by an all consuming darkness. It was just the two of them now, walking in a single file line through the never-ending dark. Penny was consumed with the thought of her book light failing, and suddenly being plunged into an inescapable, coffin-like darkness. She shuddered, trying to shake the thought from her mind.

Suddenly, her light illuminated a small golden door a few meters ahead of them. Somehow, the sight of something other than damp clay immediately lifted her spirits.

"John, look," said Penny, pointing at the golden door as they approached.

"There's no handle," he frowned. "What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't kn-" Penny stopped. Dazzlingly bright red words appeared with a brilliant flash, sparkling and streaming across the breast of the door. Penny squinted, leaning back slightly. It was very bright. As her eyes adjusted, she could just about read the glowing characters:

...

 ** _The bigger it is,_**

 ** _The more it feeds,_**

 ** _This orange thing,_**

 ** _Has lots of seeds._**

 _..._

"Is this a riddle?" she asked, turning around to John.

"Sounds like it," said John, grabbing her arm gently and sliding in next to her. There was just about room for the two of them to read the door if they stood sideways.

As she felt her chest just about touching against his, Penny was suddenly very glad that it was so dark in there. She could feel her face burning a deeper red than the door's riddle.

"Oh," said John, leaning in and reading the door. "Well that's a pumpkin."

No sooner had he said the words than there was a loud _click_ and the words vanished. Once again they were left with only the shine of the reading light. There was a heavy, grinding rumble and to Penny's surprise, the door began rising through the cavern ceiling. Only an inch or so behind it was another golden door. Penny and John managed to exchange bemused looks just before the second door flashed. With a quiet fizzling and scraping sound, a riddle appeared on the door, as if it was being etched in right there and then. This time the words beamed an icy blue, not unlike a Moonlight Jelly. Penny squinted a second time and began reading out loud:

...

 ** _This entity has had its hand,_**

 ** _In good deeds oh so few,_**

 ** _Now speak to me their flagship brand,_**

 ** _Of sweet, and small, and blue._**

 _..._

"What do you reckon?" said John, scratching his head and banging his elbow on the wall in doing so. "Good deeds oh so few..."

"So it's something bad," toned Penny, thoughtfully.

"Right, something bad, with a flagship bran-"

"Sweet and small and blue!" Penny squeaked, excitedly. "Joja's flagship brand, a can of Joja Cola. Gotta be."

Before John could weigh in, another loud _click_ rang out and the door began rumbling and churning its way slowly towards the ceiling.

"Never thought it tasted that sweet," chuckled John, grinning at Penny.

A third golden door replaced the last one, which was met with a loud sigh and grumble from John.

"How many of these are there?" He grumbled.

As soon as he'd spoken, the door erupted into shimmering, emerald green letters. But these letters were absolutely tiny, and stretched all the way down the door. Penny glanced at John as if to say "sorry there's more" and did what she could to crouch down slightly and read all of it. John backed away a little to give her room.

...

 ** _As darkness sweeps across the land,_**

 ** _I surely cannot tell,_**

 ** _For in my heart and in my mind,_**

 ** _The mines I truly dwell._**

 ** _When rain comes lashing or snow adrift,_**

 ** _I surely cannot know,_**

 ** _For all I have is ore to shift,_**

 ** _And brittle rocks to throw._**

 ** _In ancient times a spirt came,_**

 ** _Of noble and good cause._**

 ** _I find them dead and watch them now,_**

 ** _Respectful in my pause._**

 ** _Their bodies here did come to rest,_**

 ** _Upon the ancient stones._**

 ** _And now what lays is glowing bright,_**

 ** _The lonely fairies' bones._**

 ** _With purple hue and price tenfold,_**

 ** _I dig them up with glee._**

 ** _The market buys their bone for gold._**

 ** _And gold will set me free._**

...

"I haven't got a single, solitary clue as to what that means," said John, clearly irritated. "The other two were so much shorter." Penny stood up silently, tapping her chin and staring at the words. "What's up?" asked John. "Think you've got it?"

"It's so familiar..." said Penny, dreamily. "I've read that before..."

"Really? Know what it means?"

"I don't think I... _lonely fairies' bones_..." A few moments of silence passed. John broke it by tapping his foot on the damp clay, struggling to come up with an answer.

"Maybe we should head back, and ask someone?" John shrugged, still tapping his foot to a non-existent rhythm.

"No I think I..." Penny slapped her forehead. "Oh of course, it's part of the old miner's song!"

"Only part of it?" John echoed. "How long is the whole thing?"

"Oh it's huge," said Penny, cheerily, leaning in to peer at the words a second time. "But this part is... Yes." She turned and nodded at John, who looked like he had no idea what she was talking about. "Fairy stone."

She watched his expression in the dim light as a satisfyingly loud click echoed throughout the passage, and the door began rumbling, groaning its way upwards.

"Amazing," beamed John, sincerely. "The lonely fairies' bones... How did you know?"

"I've read it," she smiled. Penny realized that she couldn't remember being much happier than she was at that very moment. She wasn't sure if that in itself was a happy thought or a sad thought.

"Well like I said, amazing. I _knew_ you'd be the only one capable of winning this thing."

 _Happy_ , she decided. _It was a happy thought._

"Looks like there's another one," said John, frowning at the door behind Penny. Penny wheeled around and shined her book light. This door looked very different from the others and seemed to be built out of smooth, purple stone. "Looks like iridium," John added, stepping closer behind Penny and peering around her.

"Here comes the riddle," said Penny as a flash of white light crossed her vision. Ornate golden letters carved themselves into the door, emblazoned with a beautiful shimmering glow.

"Take it away, teammate," said John, patting her on the shoulder and noticeably much more cheerily. "I'm listening."

Penny tried not to let the burst of nervous energy from John's hand manifest itself in her voice. She cleared her throat, and read aloud.

...

 ** _You have come so far,_**

 ** _You have far to go,_**

 ** _How much will your effort show?_**

 ** _Take these riddles,_**

 ** _Find their things,_**

 ** _The winner be the one who brings._**

 ** _Here you'll mix,_**

 ** _Your fetid brew,_**

 ** _And of this door, you'll go through._**

 ** _One more thing,_**

 ** _That you should know,_**

 ** _A thing to make your potion glow:_**

...

In much brighter words at the bottom of the door was a stand-alone sentence that the first riddle was pointing to.

...

 ** _Feed me and I live. Give me a drink and I die._**

...

"Two riddles?" said John, now holding Penny's shoulder and leaning over it. "I think I've heard that last one before."

"What do you think it is?" asked Penny, tapping her chin with pursed lips.

There was a brief silence, followed by a long "Hmmmm," from John, which ended in "Fire, I think. Feed it fuel, and water puts it out."

In that instant, the smaller riddle popped with a shower of gold sparks as it began fading away. But the larger riddle remained, and the door didn't budge. With a loud _clack_ , some kind of compartment opened in the base of the door, right about where the riddle had just been. It looked like a small, iron pot, tightly secured to the door. The rim of the pot lit up, with the same flashy glimmer as the riddle.

"Uh," said Penny, crouching down to examine it. "What are we supposed to do with this?" She glanced back at the first riddle. " _Make your potion glow_... We need to make a potion?"

"A potion?" John scoffed, his eyes narrowing as he re-read the riddle. "With what?" He paused, scanning the riddle. "Take these riddles, find their things..."

"We need to get whatever the answers were to the last riddles," said Penny confidently, standing up and turning around with a satisfied nod at John. "That's our potion."

"You're a genius, Penny," he grinned, glowingly. This time it was John's smile that was infectious, and Penny couldn't help but mirror it back.

"So, pumpkin," said Penny, counting out with one finger.

"Yes, honey?" chuckled John, clearly very pleased that they'd gotten so far. Not for the first time, Penny was glad it was dark enough in there for her burning blush to be hidden. She joined him in laughing, and although she knew it was just a joke, it had been strangely pleasing to hear.

"No, no," she laughed, punching him softly in the arm. "We need pumpkin."

"Joja Cola," he added.

"Fairy stone."

"Oh and fire."

"Right." Penny held up the four fingers she'd been counting with. "This is going to be a _really_ weird potion."

"Yeah..." John rubbed his chin. "Obviously there's plenty of pumpkin around, probably JojaCola too... But fairy stone..."

"We can't exactly go mining for it," said Penny, glumly.

"No... we can't. I gave some to Gunther a few weeks ago." John was now pacing back and forth in the very limited space that he had. "Can't exactly get it off him. I had a hard enough time getting that fire opal off him, and I haven't got him another one yet."

Penny held her chest, just below her neck. Beneath her blouse she could feel the fire opal that John had given her for her birthday, which she'd managed to secure onto a necklace. She reached behind her neck and undid the metal clasp.

"What if we give it back?" she asked, holding it out in front of her, trying to illuminate it with her reading light in her other hand.

"You have it?" said John, halting his pacing immediately.

"Yeah. I could swap it with him for the fairy stone."

John paused, watching the fire opal dangle from the necklace. "But it's yours, Penny."

"No one else has a real chance of getting their hands on fairy stone, John," she smiled. "We're the only ones who can do this."

John thought about it for several seconds, before nodding. "You're right. Are you sure you don't mind giving it away?" He asked, pointing at the dangling opal.

Penny grinned. "I'm sure. Nice as it is, I think being the only ones to win this thing will be even nicer." With a peculiar burst of confidence, Penny added, "Besides, you can get me another one."

John laughed. "I'll get you ten!"

...

* * *

Spirits' Eve, Fall 28th, Year 1

Thanks for reading, team!

John and Penny are on the case - and they're solving riddles left right and center today!

What better way for a relationship to flourish than with an adventure, eh?

Please let me know what you think. Love it? Hate it? Confused as to what that _danged_ Wizard is playing at with these riddles? Please share, I'd love to hear from you!


	10. Spirit's Eve - Part 3 of 3 - Fall 28th

**...**

 **Spirit's Eve Festival - Part 3/3**

 **...**

* * *

"It's not a matter of value," said Gunther, waving his hands around irritably. "I can't keep giving away everything I take in – that's not the _point_ of a museum!"

"I know," said Penny, as softly as she could. "But with the fire opal…"

"The fire opal was already mine!" he snapped, wrenching his head downwards and attempting to focus on the paperwork on the desk in front of him.

"I know," Penny repeated, now sliding the fire opal across the desk towards him. "Consider it a trade."

Gunther snorted. "A trade? Forget it." He pushed his semi-circular spectacles further up his nose. "Look, you'll give me the fire opal, I give you the fairy stone, and I'll never see another ounce of it."

"Not true," said Penny, attempting to show a sincere, comforting smile. "John and I will get you more, I promise."

With unexpected haste, Gunther slammed his fist on the desk. "No!" he barked. "Go. Away." He snapped his neck downwards once again to face his paperwork, bristling.

Penny took a few involuntary steps backwards. Her face was burning a bright scarlet, and she could feel her ears burning. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Normally, she would have just walked away. In fact, normally, she wouldn't be talking to Gunther at all. It was all John's fault. John had made her do this. John had gotten her in this situation. John had… No. She shook her head as if to clear her mind. John had changed her for the better, not worse. Here she was, confidently talking to Gunther as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Here she was feeling like a _normal_ human for once. Here she was. And it felt great.

"Gunther," said Penny, stepping forward and leaning with her two hands on his desk. "Let's be serious."

Gunther, who was rather taken aback at Penny's forwardness, stared at her, bemused. Not once had she ever kept talking to him after he'd made it clear that he was busy.

"So," Penny continued, a wave of confidence enveloping her, culminating in a smile that she couldn't suppress. "Look at it, the museum, I mean really," she took a few paces back and gestured over to her right towards the museum at the far end of the building. "If John hadn't been here, it-"

"I really don't see-"

"If John hadn't been here," Penny continued, narrowing her eyes as she watched him. He remained silent. She wasn't smiling any more, even though she really wanted to. "This museum would be nothing more than empty shelves and counters – and you know it," she added, sensing Gunther's desire to interject. "Quite literally everything in the museum is here because of John. I'm taking the fairy stone back to him. And I promise you, Gunther, we _will_ get you another slab of it."

Gunther looked as though he was filling with boiling water. His skin flushed a dark red and his face contorted slightly in uncomfortable anger. Penny brushed back a few loose strands of her clean copper hair and folded her arms, watching him.

"Fine, fine!" he barked, waving his hands in the air, whipping his neck down for the third time. "Just don't make a habit of this."

Penny beamed at him. "I promise," Penny said, excitedly. "You won't regret it!" She dashed over through the library and grabbed the fairy stone from its wooden pedestal in the museum. "Thanks, Gunther!" Penny shouted, already half-way out the door.

…

Penny found herself jogging excitedly across the bridge and towards town, clutching the fairy stone to her chest. She managed to make her way back into the town square with the caged, walking skeletons and the large festive tables of food.

"Penny," Sam called, waving his arm at her. "Come here!"

Penny halted and glanced over. "Can't right now, Sam."

Sam frowned at her, eyeing the fairy stone. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," Penny grinned as she restarted her steady jog towards the maze. It was only about halfway through the maze – the route of which she'd done her best to memorize on the way through the first time – when she realized that she hadn't felt uneasy or uncomfortable talking to Sam, despite the face-locking she'd found him doing with Abby. She smiled to herself as she ran, brushing her flowing hair back with her free hand. She didn't need to push those unpleasant thoughts out of her head – this time they'd rushed out by themselves. All she could think of was working together with John to win the prize.

Penny found her way to the false dead-end and slowed to a gentle stroll as she moved through the fake, holographic hedge. Just as it had before, it popped and fizzled around her as she slowly stepped through, tingling all over. Emerging on the other side, she rounded the corner and made her way to the cave entrance where John was waiting for her.

"You got it!" John grinned eagerly. "I knew you would!"

He was standing by the mouth of the tunnel, a large backpack slung across his shoulders. In his left hand he was clutching a rather large pumpkin, cradling it under his arm. Balancing on top of the pumpkin was a can of JojaCola. In his other hand he was holding up a large torch, its great luminous flame washing over him and giving him a warm, gentle glow.

"And you got everything else!" said Penny, drawing closer to John and taking the JojaCola can before it fell off. "Where did you get a lit torch?"

"Believe it or not," said John, with a light chuckle. "I made it."

"Of course you did," Penny beamed, shaking her head with a warm smile. "I expect nothing less from you."

John returned her smile in earnest. He turned around and began stepping softly into the darkness. "Well it's a lot easier to see in here with this thing," he said, laughing and waving the torch around. "Got some strange looks on my way here."

"I bet you did," said Penny, following along closely behind him. Bathed in the torchlight, the tunnel was much less claustrophobic. It felt warmer and, in a strange sort of way, rather cozy. Well, cozy enough once she ignored the squelching of the wet clay with each step.

When they were about ten meters away from the shimmering purple door, something caught Penny's eye. In the dirt wall on her left, about knee-height, a small black box with a silver lock glinted in the shine of the torchlight. It looked like it had been lodged there some time ago, as it was mostly buried in the wall, and the visible section was coated in a thick layer of soot and wet dirt.

"John, wait," said Penny, pausing and crouching down beside the box. "Look." John stopped and turned around, a slightly bemused look on his face. "What is this?" said Penny, now setting down the fairy stone and cola, and reaching out to wipe some of the grime off the silver lock.

"I don't know," said John, stepping closer and crouching next to her. "Something to do with the puzzle?"

"I guess so," Penny scrunched up her hand to try and release the loose dirt she'd collected.

John set his things down gently on the damp clay and pulled his backpack around in front of him. With a few seconds of fumbling inside, he pulled out a small stainless steel chisel. "This time," he grinned, still clutching the torch with his free hand. "I thought I should come prepared. Here," he handed the chisel to her.

"Good thinking," said Penny, taking the chisel from him and beginning to chip away at the hardened dirt around the black box. It didn't take long at all before it popped loose. Handing the chisel back to John, she picked up the black box in two hands and looked it over. It looked like some sort of money box, the kind that Pierre would use to hold petty cash during town events.

"Oh, I know," said John, once again reaching into his backpack. This time, after depositing the chisel, he produced a small pair of pliers, except they looked quite sharp. "Good for cutting small bolts. Let's cut the lock."

"Wow," Penny laughed, taking the pliers from him. "You really did come prepared." Penny set the box down and carefully snipped at the lock. After a few attempts, she cut through with a light _clack_ and the lid lifted open ever so slightly. With a curiously sudden feeling of anxiety, Penny gave the pliers back to John slowly and gingerly lifted the lid off the box. Inside was nothing more than a small scrap of rolled up paper. After sharing a confused look with John, she reached inside and unrolled the paper. But it wasn't any kind of language Penny had ever read. Scribbled across the page in faint golden ink were about eight or so strange symbols that looked a bit like diagrams and instructions written by a toddler.

"Is that… Dwarvish?" said John, leaning in. "No… No I've seen some Dwarvish, that's not it."

"Well it's not something I've ever read," said Penny, picking up her fairy stone and cola.

"Keep it for now," he said, nodding at her and watching as she folded it up into her pocket. "We'll see if we need it later. Let's keep moving."

…

With the empty lockbox left in the clay, the two continued on their way to the iridium door.

"Right," said John, laying down the pumpkin next to the door. "I'm going to cut a bit off this, but I thought I'd bring the whole thing just in case."

Reaching behind him into a small pocket on the side of his bag, he pulled out a small red pocket knife. After passing the torch back to Penny behind him, he lowered himself down to the pumpkin and began slashing a chunk out of the top. Wrenching away a handful of soggy orange, seed-ridden pumpkin flesh, he dumped it into the cauldron pot in the base of the door. Half expecting something to happen when he did so, he paused, watching the pot for a moment. When nothing happened, he stood up and turned around, smiling at Penny. He stepped to one side as best he could, and took the torch back.

"Your turn," he nodded at the pot, still smiling.

Penny slipped in next to John in front of the door. Gingerly, Penny reached in and set the slab of fairy stone inside the pot, resting on top of the pumpkin chunk. Once again, nothing happened. With a moment's pause, Penny cracked open the can of JojaCola with a pop and a gentle fizz. She tipped the fizzing dark-red contents into the pot, which somehow managed to fill about half of it. Still, nothing happened.

"Right," said John, carefully moving the torch past both of them without bringing the flame too close. "Now for the fire."

He stretched out his arm and held the tip of the flame beneath the pot. For the first minute, nothing happened. Then, with a loud _crack_ and an explosion of shimmering red sparks, the fairy stone vanished. Almost immediately afterwards, the pumpkin chunk fizzled and dissolved, as if something was mashing it and pulling it apart. As soon as both had vanished, the liquid turned a bright, sickly green. The two of them exchanged a brief excited glance before re-gluing their attention to the pot.

With a final explosion and fantail of golden sparks, the pot began moving backwards into the door. Once it had re-secured itself, as if it had never been there in the first place, there was a familiar _clack_ and the purple door began slowly but surely grinding its way upwards.

"We did it!" said John, punching the air trimuphantly. "And look!" John pointed at the passage that the door had revealed. There weren't any more doors ahead of them, but instead a faint glow. It was moonlight.

"That must be the other side!" Penny laughed, unable to contain her excitement.

"Let's go!" yelled John, bolting forwards towards the dim light. Penny followed on as quickly as she could behind him, leaving the semi-gouged pumpkin behind.

…

The two arrived at the tunnel exit and were greeted by a strange black ground. They were definitely outside once again - by the looks of it they were somewhere behind the hedge maze - but the floor was very unsettling. It looked almost like a form of living tissue. Penny swore she could see dark red eyes speckled throughout the area. And they were watching them. She shuddered involuntarily, moving to stand ever so slightly behind John.

"Uh," said John, taking a feeble step onto the strange ground. It was soft and squidgy, and he sank about an inch into it. "This is strange. But, Penny, look." John gestured for her to come forwards. Penny looked up. Right in the middle of the flesh-ground was a chest, emblazoned with gold trimmings and encrusted with glimmering diamonds. Penny narrowed her eyes, uncertain as to how she hadn't seen the chest with her first glance. In any case, she really didn't want to step on the flesh.

"John, you get it, I'll wait here," she nodded, gently.

"No, no," John grinned. With his torch in his left hand, he extended his right hand towards her. "I couldn't have gotten this far without you, Penny. I'm not going any further without you." John kept his arm extended towards her. "I need you."

Something squirmed inside Penny, but it wasn't a wholly unpleasant feeling. It felt like butterflies on steroids in her stomach. Although she could feel her face blushing deep red, she nodded confidently, and took his hand. He kept a very gentle grip, and it was just comforting enough to get her to step onto the flesh.

"Yuck," said Penny, stabilizing herself with John's hand. "Let's not step on any eyes."

…

It wasn't exactly a large area, only about the size of a small bedroom or so, but walking on the flesh around to the other side of the chest wasn't easy. After some very wobbly stepping, they made it, hand-in-hand, to the front of the chest.

"Wow," said John, gazing down at the chest. "I expected a lock or something. Well, here goes." John gently let go of Penny's hand and stretched out, thrusting the lid of the chest open.

Inside was an enormous, shining gold pumpkin, sitting alone in the rather unnecessarily large chest. John's eyes widened as he stared at it.

"I think," he croaked. "I think that's solid gold!"

Without warning, a cloud of purple mist blew in from the cavern entrance and began swirling and gathering on the other side of the chest. It was loud and crackling, with what looked like bolts of electricity rippling through it. On impulse, Penny grabbed John's hand.

"Hello!" said the cloud, with a much jollier voice than either of them had expected. The cloud shrank, condensed into a thin line, then with a pop it formed the shape of a man. He was dressed all in black, embossed with purple trimmings, and a large cowboy-like black hat. He had a bright purple beard, adorned with a thick mustache pointed upwards like two goat's horns. His equally purple hair looked stiff and heavy, not quite stretching down far enough to cover his eyes.

It was the town wizard. _What was his name? Razimuld? Razmodium?_

"Rasmodius!" said John, clearly very relieved by the tone of his voice. "Did we win?"

"You did indeed, my friend," the wizard chuckled. "I must say I didn't think _you two_ would team up to do it. Quite interesting, indeed." He stroked his beard, smiling. "Nice torch," he added, with a slight nod at John.

"Wait," said Penny, reaching into her pocket. "What about this?" She held out the strange note from the cavern lockbox.

The wizard eyed the note. "What is it?"

Penny glanced at John, then back at the wizard. "We thought you put it there, if it was part of the challeng-"

"Let me see," said the wizard as he marched around the chest. He halted halfway through. "Oh, sorry Chorian." He reached into his cloak and plucked out a vial of simmering pink liquid, pouring it on the ground. With a small pink flash, the fleshy ground shuddered and vibrated, transforming into soil and dirt. "Sorry," said the wizard, continuing to make his way towards them. "That was Chorian. Lots of eyes, wanted to see the winner. I do these Spirit's Eve festivals so the spirit world gets a chance to see mortals up close."

"Really?" said John, as the wizard came up alongside Penny. "What about those skeletons in the cage, in the main square?"

The wizard laughed heartily as he took the slip of paper from Penny's hand. This was the closest she'd ever been to the wizard, she'd never really talked to him at all. Rather oddly, he smelled faintly of burnt rubber.

"Yes, they're fascinated by mortals," he chuckled. "It's not a cage to keep them in, but rather, they wouldn't agree to do it unless I put them in a cage. Think of it like diving with sharks." As the wizard turned his attention to the note, his smile slowly began to fade. "Where did you find this?"

"In the passageway," said John, tilting his head in the direction of the tunnel they'd come from.

After a few moments of silence, Penny said: "What is it?"

"Actually…" said the wizard, dreamily. "I'm not sure. It's… not Dwarfish… not Elvish…" His eyes were moving fast enough to blur, reading and re-reading the note. "… not Goblin… not Alkayzian… Hmmm."

The wizard reached into his cloak with his left hand and pulled out a blood-red stone. He scrubbed the letters with the stone, making sure to consistently cover each character. After this, he handed the note back to Penny, which seemed to be completely unchanged by the stone. Then, he reached into his cloak once again, this time producing a small black book. He flicked through it to the first blank page he could find and began rubbing the stone against the page. As he scraped along it, the symbols from the note began to form in his book.

"Kallus Stone," he said, putting both the book and the stone away. "I've got a copy now, I'll let you know if I ever make sense of it. But, well…" he frowned at the both of them, his eyes darting between the two. "…In any case, congratulations."

"Thanks," said John, smiling weakly.

"And by the way, you were right, John," said the wizard, stepping away from them and holding his arms in the air. A pale purple mist was wrapping around him. "It's solid gold."

Penny thought about this for a moment. _How much was it worth? Would it be enough to buy a new house? How would they split it?_ She glanced down at the gleaming golden pumpkin in the chest. But as she did, it wasn't the golden sheen that caught her eye - it was the fact that she was still holding hands with John. She watched her hand in his for a moment or two, and couldn't help but smile.

"Just be careful," said the wizard, now completely engulfed in the purple mist as he began teleporting away. "I know three hundred ancient languages. And that one is new to me."

* * *

Spirit's Eve, Fall 28th, Year 1

 **Thanks for reading, team!**

Hmmm, an ancient language that nobody's heard of? What have our heroes stumbled upon? And how will it affect their relationship? Keep reading for more...!

Please let me know what you think and have an awesome day!


	11. Stardew in Snow - Winter 3rd

"Jas, slow down!" Penny wheezed, trying desperately to keep up with the kids as they sped ahead of her. "You'll slip on the ice!"

Winter had finally swept through Stardew Valley, leaving a broad blanket of snow in its wake. Pelican town was thickly coated in sheets of mirrored-ice and hard-packed snow. Penny's lesson with the kids had just ended, and as per usual they'd raced away as soon as she'd let them leave, both more than ready to head home. Normally, that wasn't an issue, Penny would follow along at her usual pace and say goodbye to them just outside their houses. But this time, danger was everywhere. The thought of one of the kids slipping and banging against the rock-like ice sent shivers up Penny's spine – although that may have been the icy wind.

"Okay Vincent I'll say goodbye now, I have to keep going. Jas!" Penny called to Vincent and gave a wobbly wave with her warm mitten-clad hand as she herself slid a little on the ice. Vincent grinned and returned his own wave, his mother Jodi appearing in the doorway behind him and waving too. Jas had opted to continue paying no attention to Penny, and was instead thoroughly enjoying throwing herself into every bank of snow she could find. "I'll see you tomorrow!" said Penny, continuing her wave to Vincent as she slipped away, trying to take advantage of Jas' attempts to make a snow angel and catch up with her.

Just as Penny drew near, Jas leapt to her feet and continued pelting off towards her home, giggling to herself, clearly enjoying keeping Penny on the move.

"Jas, please be careful!" said Penny, her voice reduced to an airy rasp through panting breaths. As they approached the front of Jas' family ranch, Penny finally managed to catch up.

"Thanks for taking me home, Miss Penny!" Jas beamed up at her, her head and shoulders caked in fresh snow. "Bye!" She bounced gleefully up to the front door, kicking the snow as she went.

"Take care, Jas," wheezed Penny. "See you tomorrow!" Penny grasped the ranch fence as she waved at Jas' disappearing figure, and attempted to steady her breathing. Her heavy breathing was perforated by a light chuckle carried on the wind from somewhere behind her.

"Those kids keeping you busy?"

Penny turned to see John casually trudging through the deep snow towards her. He was bundled up in a large brown coat, with his hands gloved and his feet secured in heavy black boots. A large, bulky satchel was strapped loosely over his shoulder, the clasp clacking against his side as he stepped. He still had his trusty tan cap atop his head and a wide, cheery smile was plastered to his frosty, reddened face.

"Hey John," said Penny, smiling sweetly, still catching her breath. "Yeah, they're quite a handful. They love the snow."

" _I_ love the snow," John chuckled. He lifted his gloved finger into the air, with a quiver of enlightenment streaking across his face, as if he'd just solved a riddle. "Guess what? I have something for you."

"Oh?" Penny breathed, trying to sound less winded than she actually was. She straightened up, and turned fully to face him, letting go of the fence.

"Yeah." John unbuckled a satchel clasp, and pulled out a small taupe envelope from the first pocket. "Here," he said, passing the envelope to her, beaming. "Mayor Lewis found a buyer for the golden pumpkin. Someone bought it for two and a half grand." He nodded, the warm grin melting the flecks of silvery ice on his cheeks. "That's your half."

Penny took the envelope absent-mindedly, slowly considering John's words with a concentrated look on her face, as if she was mulling over subtle flavors in a Starfruit wine. "Oh," she said again, as she turned her gaze downwards to the envelope in her hands. "Oh..."

John frowned at her, tilting his head. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, it's just," Penny trailed off. Then with a shrug, she added, "I just hoped it might be more than that."

"Right," said John, his cheery disposition fading slightly. "Me too." He tilted his head a second time, clearing his throat uncertainly. "I suppose… Robin needs more than that to build a house for you?"

"Yeah," Penny nodded solemnly. "A _lot_ more."

A few moments of silence passed as the two stood together ankle-deep in snow, with only the howl of the icy wind filling the gap.

"Well," John piped up, breaking the silence, a smile breaking out across his face once more, although Penny could tell that it was purely for her benefit. "I've got something to show you, if you're not busy."

Penny raised her eyebrows, now wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm. "I've got time," she said, weakly returning his smile.

"Great," said John, striding towards town. "Let's go."

Glancing downwards to avoid sheets of slippery ice, Penny tiptoed her way around the compacted ice and made her way across the thickened snow banks instead. Thankfully, unlike the kids, John was in no rush to leave her behind. He waited, his gloved hands concealed in his deep coat pockets, and watched her navigate her way towards him, carefully considering each and every step. With a kind laugh, he held out his hand. As she drew closer, she slipped sideways, just about managing to snag his arm with a small squeal and steady herself before she fell.

"My balance is terrible," she said, laughing and sweeping the loose hairs out of her eyes with her free hand. She glanced up at him and caught his smiling eyes. She found herself suddenly very aware of the burning blush spreading across her face, but hoped that John would pass it off as a side-effect of the cold.

"Well you better hold tight then." John gently wrapped his arm around hers and kept her steadily upright. "Let's go."

...

As the two strode through Pelican Town, it struck Penny rather suddenly how beautiful it was, especially now that it was blanketed in such a crisp coating of the purest, whitest snow. A gentle hubbub of laughter and merriment drifted lazily out of the Stardrop Saloon as they passed, carried along on an icy breeze. As they continued past, Penny peeked in through the frost-glazed windows into the warm orange glow within, watching the blurred shapes of townsfolk gathering and drinking together. Penny thought she'd glimpsed Lewis leaning in rather closely to Marnie, and if it hadn't been for the icy pane, she'd have sworn he'd kissed her. It looked as though most of the town had gathered for the evening, taking refuge from the wintry chill together in a hub of warmth and booze.

"Looks like fun in there," said John, tilting his head backwards at the saloon after they'd gone beyond it. "Maybe we should go for a drink afterwards?"

"I don't drink," said Penny, the words escaping her mouth before she could even consider them. "I mean," she added quickly. "It does look fun in there, I just... I know my mom'll be in there."

John nodded, tightening his arm around hers briefly in a comforting squeeze. "That makes total sense, I understand."

"You're the only person who I've ever really talked to about my mom, you know." Penny gazed up, determined to look at him as she spoke. "It means a lot to me."

"Well, I'm always around if you want to talk about it," said John, in a kindly, meaningful voice. "And," John let go of her arm and stepped around her. He gestured towards the building in front of them. Penny hadn't even realised that they'd already arrived. "I've got something great to take your mind off it."

In front of them was the old town community center. It had been terribly neglected and left at the mercy of the elements. Nature had been busy snatching it back into the wilderness, with all sorts of twisted vines and fibrous growths creeping along the splintering walls and cracked roof tiles. The central clock hanging over the damaged oaken door looked as though it had rusted to a halt over half a century ago. Penny was certain that there was a lot more damage to the structure that she couldn't see under the heavy coat of fresh snow that had set on top of it.

"The community center?" said Penny, raising an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"Oh it's wonderful," said John, a glowing grin spreading across his face. He took a few more giddy steps towards the door, and gently pushed it open. With his arm extended and his grin still shining brightly, he gestured for Penny to step inside.

...

The inside didn't look like it had faired any better than the exterior. Dilapidated and smashed furniture littered the main room, some of which had fallen through rotted holes in the ancient wooden floor. Tucked away in the far corner, however, was something that caught Penny's eye. It didn't particularly stand out or anything, in fact it blended in perfectly with the rest of the rotting, moss-coated, vine-laden room, but there was definitely something special about it. Almost as if it was lit with the faintest glow.

It was a small hut in the corner of the room, which looked as though it was the hollowed out husk of a large tree stump, covered over with a leafy, vine-strewn canvas. Was this where that homeless man Linus spent the winter? Penny knew he had a tent set up somewhere out behind Robin's house, but perhaps that just got too cold during the thick snowfall.

Before Penny could ask about it, John had started quietly moving towards the hut, stepping very softly, almost as if he was worried about scaring it away. He slowly lowered to his knees, reached into his deep coat pocket, and brandished something that looked like a wrapping of soggy brown paper. Curious, Penny crept up beside him and knelt on the damp, soft-wood floor.

John began unwrapping the sodden paper. Inside was a small, flat fish. Its oily, sandy-colored scales looked rather familiar, as if Penny was somehow used to seeing this type of fish. She stared at it in his hands for a few moments before it clicked. It was a sandfish, the kind of fish that only ever bred in Calico Desert. The oily scales and saltwater stench brought back powerful memories of the days before her mom's alcohol-induced downfall. The days when she ran the bus to Calico and returned after work with handfuls of fresh sandfish, ready to eat. Or better yet, when she'd come back with coconuts, eager to brew up her finest Tom Kha Soup. How desperately Penny missed that delicious homemade soup was beyond belief, and the sandfish too, and... She shook her head. She was getting carried away in thought, this clearly wasn't why John had taken her here. Although why he'd taken her to the community center to crouch in the corner with a sandfish was beyond her.

Once again, before Penny could ask what was happening, she saw it. A tiny green ball, about the size of a pumpkin, was... was walking out of the strange little hut in the corner. It waddled uncertainly, hesitantly, taking in everything around it, watching both John and Penny tentatively.

"Junimos," whispered John, with a joyous wink.

Penny gawked as the Junimo edged closer to John's extended hand, which was offering up the sandfish. It looked like a walking, oversized apple, complete with a stem atop its head. It had a very sweet and innocent face, its tiny bead-like eyes whimsically darting around the room. It held out its little hands, with what looked like a tiny smile, and squeaked softly, seemingly excitedly, as it reached out and took the sandfish.

John nodded with a grin at the Junimo, a grin that widened when he turned to see Penny continuing to gape at the situation. With a jaunty skip, the Junimo waddled back into the small hut, clutching the sandfish as if it was the best thing it had ever seen. Penny was brought out of her bemused stupor as John patted her on the back and got back to his feet.

"And you thought I was joking," he chuckled. "Junimos. Incredible things."

"I can't believe it," said Penny, now also getting to her feet. "And... you said they fixed the Calico Desert bus?"

"Yeah, they did." John smiled, now glancing around the room as if hoping to spot some more of them. "Not that I asked them to."

"Then who did?"

"Oh, no one." John placed his hand gently on Penny's shoulder, his cheeriness brightening the rotted room. "They're incredible creatures, Junimos. You see, Penny," John was now gesturing around the room. "The Junimos are fixing up this place. They wanted a few things and I helped them out, Rasmodius showed me how to read their language, fascinating stuff."

"They have a language?" Penny asked, mulling her words over slowly as she continued to process what was happening. "They're... fixing the community center?"

"Yes and yes," said John, through a giddy laugh. "Penny," he said, now holding both of her shoulders and stepping in close enough for her face to quickly redden. "The Junimos are proof that there are things out there that are more magical, more wonderful, and more loving than you can ever possibly imagine. And Stardew Valley is just bursting with such goodness, such wonderful... wonderful _nonsense_ as the love that the Junimos show for strangers."

Penny almost giggled audibly. It was all rather bizarre to hear John talking like this. It was as if he was a child getting overly-excited about a new video game or a bag of sweets and wasn't quite able to express his feelings. She couldn't help but break into a smile. It was adorable.

"I help them, and they help us. I'd never even heard of a Junimo before coming to Stardew Valley, Penny, and yet here I am, telling you all about them." John was gazing right into Penny's eyes, his face aglow with bliss. His deep blue eyes sparkled, as though the Junimos had rekindled some kind of euphoria within them.

Whether he was intending to or not, Penny was very aware that this blissfully happy John was holding her very closely. Closer than they'd been since the narrow passageway on Spirit's Eve. Penny was trying with all her might to halt the spread of red across her cheeks. But inevitably she could feel her face shining, and her ears were burning a bright scarlet.

"Penny," whispered John, the sound of her name sending nervous shivers down her spine. "I've found more wonders, more love, more kindness and more ridiculousness here in Stardew Valley than I have during the rest of my life combined. The Junimos, they're wonderful, don't you think?"

"They're incredible," said Penny, her voice cracking slightly as she struggled to keep the nervous tingles from manifesting in her voice. She swallowed hard, and attempted to lock eyes with him. "You're incredible." It seemed to happen a lot around John, but once again the words had escaped her before she could consider them. This time, she managed to stand by what she said.

For a few, glorious, solitary moments, the two stood there, closely, silently gazing into each other's eyes. Penny could see the sparkle in John's eye both intensify and soften in the space of a heartbeat, his lip quivering slightly. This was it. She was going to tell him how she felt, or kiss him, or something, anything, she had to do something. This was her moment, her best chance, and she couldn't let it slip through her fingers.

But, as if the universe itself was conspiring against her, the door to the community center threw itself open with an ear-splitting bang, and the two jolted apart. Demetrius came tumbling through.

"John!" Demetrius spluttered, panting and wheezing. "It's Robin, she's trapped in the mines! You've got to help me! Please!"

* * *

Winter, Wednesday 3rd, Year 1

 **Thanks for reading, team!**

If by any small miracle there's someone out there who's been waiting to read more of Valley Girl, then I'm very sorry for keeping you waiting for so long!

Please, please let me know what you think and have an awesome day, you incredible person, you!


	12. Into the Mines - Winter 3rd

"Calm down, Demetrius, just tell me what happened."

Shortly after crashing through into the community center, Demetrius had collapsed against the wall from exhaustion and sank to the ground.

"She's in the mines," he wheezed, trying to pull himself back to his feet. John clasped his hand on his shoulder and suggested with a kindly nod that Demetrius should keep resting. "She was down there with Sebastian, I," he continued, clasping his chest. "Seb came running into the saloon, saying she'd been trapped in a rockfall or, or, or something and I..." Demetrius' eyes locked with John's, and Penny could see a shimmer of unbridled fear squirming within. "No one knew what to do. Clint said you often go down there and I just, I don't know, I panicked. Please you have to help her, we have to get her." Demetrius was begging, his voice riddled with high-pitched cracks and elongated syllables as he wheezed and spluttered.

"Of course I'll help," said John, standing abruptly to his feet. "I know someone who might help."

"I'll help!" said Demetrius, trying to pull himself to his feet again, this time successfully, if a bit shakily. "Whatever you need, whatever I can do."

John eyed Demetrius up. Penny could tell that this had shaken Demetrius to his core. He was covered in a thin veil of glistening sweat, despite the ongoing snowfall outside, and it seemed that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop wheezing. She could tell that John was thinking the same thing she was.

"Are you sure?" said John, still eyeing him up. "You seem pretty shaken up, maybe you should rest-"

"I'm not leaving her down there." This time, even though it was peppered with wheezes and panting, his voice was stern and resolute. John nodded quickly.

"Right," he said, moving towards the door. "We need to get moving then, I'm going to grab my gear, meet me at the mine entrance."

"John," said Penny, halting him before he could leave. "I want to help."

John turned to face her. "Penny," he said, slowly. "You said it yourself, you've never been in the mines." He stepped briskly towards her and gently held her arms. "It can be dangerous down there, and I don't want you getting hurt."

Penny almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. A year ago she never would have dreamed of going down into the mines, let alone offering to. Yet somehow, she found herself here, on the other side of that year, a very different person. She smiled at him as his sentiment dawned on her. He was worried about her.

"I'm tougher than I look," she said, brightly. "And you know just as well as I do that we make one hell of a team."

John grinned from ear to ear, and no more was said. The three of them exchanged glances, and hurried outside.

...

Penny found herself waiting at the mouth of the mines entrance with a very nervous Demetrius, who was pacing back and forth without stopping, eager to get going. They were waiting for John to return before they went in, and Penny wasn't sure how much longer Demetrius could take it.

The flood of relief that washed over his face when John returned was so strong that he squawked involuntarily when he saw him.

John was making his way towards them with his trusty backpack, no doubt filled to the brim with useful tools and gear. Penny couldn't help but admire him for all his hands-on ability. But it wasn't John that caught her eye. Instead, she was trying to figure out who the three people were behind him as they streaked towards them, leaving deep tracks in the smooth snow. As they drew closer, she recognised Sebastian and Maru, and Demetrius quite clearly did too.

"No, Seb, Maru," said Demetrius, half-jogging towards them. "It's not safe."

"We're helping, dad," said Maru, striding past her father. "Like it or not, we're helping."

Penny continued trying to figure out who the other person was, but the closer he got the more convinced she was that she had never seen him before. He was a very scruffy and rugged-looked man with thick, matted silvery hair. His scraggly goatee came to a sharp point, as if it had hardened in that shape over time. His left eye was covered over with a black eye-patch and he seemed to be dressed in some sort of emerald uniform, complete with a grand flowing red cloak that covered his right arm. Slung through his belt on the side was a large broadsword, the polished sheen in stark contrast to his scuffed steel boots. He brought with him an air of experience, and ferocious determination, as if he'd never failed to get the job done in his life. It was comforting to have him there to help, but Penny was certain that, under most circumstances, encountering this man would be extremely unnerving.

"Okay, we're all here," said John, as everyone gathered around the mine entrance. "This is Marlon." John gestured at the strange, one-eyed man. "He's got experience with this sort of thing, he can help."

"Don't worry," said Marlon, his voice gruffer and more sandpaper-like than Penny had expected. "I know the mines better than anyone."

"Sebastian," said John, pivoting around to face him. "You said you don't remember exactly what level you'd made it to, but we know it was between level thirty and thirty-seven. So, I suggest three groups of two people. The elevator only stops every five levels. One pair will take the elevator down to level thirty and work downwards, the other two will take the elevator down to thirty-five. The second pair will work upwards to meet the first, and the third will work downwards to thirty-seven. Make sense?"

Everyone nodded and there was a general murmur of agreement amongst the group. Watching John taking charge like this sent ripples of nervous energy through Penny's stomach. This man, this stoic leader, was the same man who was just ten minutes ago getting soppy and carried away about how 'wonderful' the Junimos were. Despite the circumstances, she smiled. There was so much more to him than she could ever have imagined.

"I've got radios," said Marlon, handing out small black walkie-talkies. "Gil's back at the lodge, we've got a signal system set up in the mines that stretches down to level sixty, we can keep in touch."

Penny had no idea who Gil was, but accepted it as truth that he was helping as she took the radio from Marlon's enormous, calloused hand. As he handed one to Sebastian, he slapped his other hand on his shoulder.

"I'm going with this lad," he said, bearing a strong, toothy grin. "You did the right thing, boy. Coming to get help. It can't have been an easy decision to leave your mother down there."

Sebastian didn't seem sure how to take those words, because although he seemed comforted, he also looked as if he had just remembered that Robin was in danger.

"Okay," said John, who seemed eager to get the rescue mission started. "You two work down from floor thirty. Maru, you go with your dad and go upwards from thirty-five, Penny and I will head down from there."

The rickety mineshaft elevator was too cramped for all six of them to get in at once, so Marlon and Sebastian went first.

"Keep in contact," John called as the elevator sank from sight.

The four of them waited in silence, but not a comfortable one. The air was laced with tension, and it didn't help that even now Demetrius was still pacing backwards and forwards.

"We've made it," called Marlon's gruff voice over their radios. "Sending the elevator back up."

With a clattering rattle and a loud dinging sound, the elevator clunked back into position, and they crammed inside. The four of them could just about all fit. Once they were all squeezed in, John pressed the grubby plastic button for level thirty-five, and the elevator groaned and rumbled downwards.

As it creaked to a halt and dinged loudly at level thirty-five, the four of them stepped out.

"Stay in touch," said John, clapping a hand on Demetrius' shoulder. "Stay calm, good luck."

Demetrius nodded solemnly, and followed Sebastian up the rickety wooden ladder to level thirty-four. Penny and John exchanged glances.

"You know," he said, lugging off his backpack and pulling out a large wooden torch. "If we're not careful, we're going to make a habit of this adventuring thing."

"Hey, I'm just following you," Penny laughed, watching as John lit the torch ablaze and held it high above his head. "You're the one taking me on adventures."

Their radio crackled to life with Marlon's voice. "Level thirty is clear, Robin's not here. Heading down."

"All right," said John, brandishing a small sword. He handed it to Penny, who hadn't been expecting it at all. She took it, unnerved by the idea that she might need it. "Let's get moving. Keep close to me."

"So..." Penny said, slowly, following on behind John as he began striding forwards. She examined the surprisingly heavy sword in her hand. "It's dangerous down here, then."

"Mostly a precaution," he glanced at Penny's sword. "I promise. I just want to make sure you've got it if you need it."

"But what... what lives down here?"

John shuddered as he trudged onwards, waving the torch around to make sure he didn't overlook any nook or cranny.

"Robin!" He yelled, as loudly as he could. Nothing but echoes responded. He glanced at Penny. "You remember what I was saying about the Junimos? Stardew Valley is bursting with strange things. Strange things both great... and terrible." He rubbed the back of his neck, as if to try and flatten the hairs that were standing to attention.

"Floor thirty-one is clear," came Marlon's voice. "Moving to thirty-two."

"Got it Marlon," said John, clutching his radio with his free hand. "Still searching thirty-five." He stuffed the radio back in his pocket. "There are some kind of beings down here. Creatures, like people, but shadows."

"Shadow people?" Penny said quickly, her voice cracking. "The Shadow Brutes of Minuterra? The Noctumbra?"

"The..." John stopped in his tracks and spun around, his face scrunched up in a ball. "The who?"

"I've read about them. The Noctumbra, the creatures of the dark, the shadow warriors who live underground. It's a fairytale. But..." Penny bit her lip. "So were the Junimos."

"Well that sounds like it could be them, yeah," said John, swaying his torch around in the darkness. "Just keep that sword ready. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I can defend myself," said Penny, clasping the sword tightly, suspicious of every flickering shadow.

"I don't doubt it," John chuckled, and stopped moving once more, turning to face her. "Which is why you're carrying the sword."

"This is quite a-"

"John, John!" The radio had crackled into life with Maru's excited voice. "We've found her, level thirty-four, just above you. She's okay, I think, but she's not conscious. Can you come back up and help us get her to the elevator?"

"You got it," said John, clutching his radio and beaming. "We're on our way."

"We'll make our way down to you," came Marlon's voice. "We're on thirty-two."

"Well," said John, stowing his radio. "Some adventure this turned out to be."

"Well we'll just have to come back some day," Penny smiled, now leading the way as they headed back towards the ladder to the floor above. "Maybe we can find another fire opal and everything."

John chuckled and wrapped his free arm around Penny's shoulders. "Sounds like a date," he grinned.

"You always take me to the nicest places," Penny laughed. "Eyes in the floor, dark tunnels, lots of mud. What else could I ask for?"

John chuckled again. "You know what," he stopped and turned to her, a warm smile adorning his face. "You're right." Penny raised an eyebrow at him. "We should go somewhere nice for a change. What do you think of getting dinner somewhere? Maybe Zuzu City? My treat."

Penny's heart leapt. Was this an actual date offer? Or was this just a friendly dinner date? The skeptical part of her brain told her it was the latter, but her thrashing heart was screaming the former. She swallowed, and with a kindly smile she gave a completely honest answer.

"I'd love that."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, everybody!**

So this chapter is something a little bit different - Penny's never been in the mines before! And where's Robin?

Please leave a review and tell me how much you love or hate it! And I will see you at the end of the next chapter, my friends.


	13. The Noctumbra - Winter 3rd

As Penny clambered up the ladder to the thirty-fourth floor behind John, she could feel a sudden shift in the temperature. Somehow this floor was much colder than thirty-five. And much darker.

"Guys, over here!" Maru was calling to them from a small pocket of light further down the mine. It looked as though they were shouldering Robin upright.

"We're on our way," John called. "Come on Penny."

The two broke into a brisk jog towards Maru, Demetrius and Robin.

Without any warning, there was an enormous bang, and it felt as though the entire planet had been up-ended. The mine shuddered from left to right and Penny and John were both thrown violently to the ground.

There was darkness. Nothing but darkness. Then...

...

There was a voice. It was loud, and scared. And... was it saying her name? What did it want? Did it need her? She just wanted to lie down here, on the soft dirt and wet clay, but the voice wouldn't go away. She strained to open her eyes and tried to focus on the voice. What was it saying? Where was it coming from? Her head was searingly painful, and when she reached up to touch it, her hand pulled away with a thick coat of blood. Seeing the dark red liquid and smelling the pungent iron tang in the air spurred her back to reality. That voice. It was Maru.

"Penny! John! Respond! Are you okay? John! John? Penny!"

She rolled on to her side, glimpsing the radio that was screaming at her. With an aching arm, she reached out and snatched it.

"Maru," she croaked, rather alarmed at how weak her voice was. "I'm.. what happened?"

"Penny!" The radio boomed. "Are you okay? There was a rockslide, or the ceiling collapsed or something. Is John with you?"

"I..." Penny wheeled her head around. She couldn't see him. She wrenched herself upright, clutching her wincing head as she did so. A body was lying a few meters away from her, motionless, next to a flaming torch. "Oh no, no, no."

"Penny what's wrong? Is John okay?" the radio buzzed.

John's leg had been caught under a large boulder. He'd been right next to the section that had caved in, and had narrowly escaped being crushed completely. Penny's veins flooded with adrenaline and her heart began thrashing wildly. His face was obscured with a mix of blood and damp clay.

"No!" Penny screamed, diving at the boulder. "No, no no no." She clawed and scraped at it, desperate to dislodge it off his leg. There was no hope of ordinary, bookish, meek, shy Penny moving that boulder. But in that instant, in that moment, that was the last thing she was. As the adrenaline pumped through her muscles and the fear clouded her brain, she ignored the pain rippling through her arms. With an almighty heave, she shifted the boulder.

Penny gasped. John's leg had been terribly mangled, and the sight of it almost made her physically sick.

"Penny, listen," came Maru's voice from the radio. "We can't get through to you. We're going to have to go up from here. But you have to tell me, Penny. Is John alive?"

Alive? The idea that he might be dead hadn't even occurred to Penny, that idea wasn't allowed to enter her brain. Without a moment's pause she thrust her ear down to his motionless chest, tears streaking down her face. She listened.

And there it was. Faint, sure. Weak, possibly. But there it was. A quiet, rhythmic, glorious heartbeat.

"Yes," Penny sobbed, still lying on his chest. "He's okay, he's alive, but his leg he..." Penny couldn't take her eyes off the mangled limb. "He's unconscious and I don't think I can... Help us please."

"Penny," called a gruff voice from the radio. It was Marlon, and in that instant, she couldn't have been happier to hear him. "Listen to me, and stay calm. Is he stable?"

"I don't know," Penny stuttered, looking him over again. "I-I think so."

"And this is important," said Marlon, his voice sounding breathy but calm. "Are you stable?"

"I don't-" Penny glanced down at herself. "I'm in pain but I think I'm okay. M-Marlon," she stammered, "I don't think I can get him back down the ladder."

"That's okay Penny," Marlon assured her. "Don't worry about that right now. Listen, I'm coming to get you both. The rubble's cut us off from this end so I'm making my way back up the elevator on level thirty and I'll take it down to level thirty-five and climb up to you, okay? Do you understand that?"

"Y-yeah, I got it," Penny stammered. The world was fizzing in and out of blurry existence.

"I've sent Sebastian down to help the others get out, I'm on my way to you. Listen, you sound a bit out of it, are you concussed?"

"I've... yeah. I hit my head. I think." Penny moved herself off John's chest, so as not to somehow worsen his condition. She leaned in over his face, wiping some stray hairs out of his peacefully closed eyes. Tears were still streaking down her face as she gently wiped the dirt and blood from his.

"Penny, I want you to keep talking to me, okay? That way I know you're still all right."

"Okay... I don't know what to talk about."

Something rippled in the far corner of the room, amidst and bank of broken mining equipment. She flinched, locking her eyes on the movement. A few seconds later another ripple moved through the darkness about a meter away from the first. And it looked human-shaped.

"Marlon," said Penny, jumping to her feet and grasping around on the clay for her sword. With one hand she steadied the sword in front of her and in the other she'd picked up the still-flaming torch. "Marlon there's something in here with us. I think it's a.. a Noctumbra."

"The shadow people, aye, they're down here. Stay put, I'm coming."

"No but I think there's one here, right now."

"Are you armed?" said Marlon, sharply. Penny tried to ignore any signs of fear in his voice. "You've got a sword, right? Just stay with John, keep your back to a wall, I'll be there soon."

A hissing came out of shadows. Faint, malicious whispers. Penny waved the torch frantically in front of her, her eyes darting around to spot the shadow. Right in front of her, as if birthed from the shadow itself, a dark silhouette of a man emerged. It was darker than the blackness behind it, and bore a wicked, horrible smile, that was unflinching, and unyieldingly wide. His white pin-like eyes bored right through her, and sent shivers down her spine.

"You stay back!" Penny yelled, making sure to let Marlon hear over the radio, too. Somehow that comforted her. She held the sword at arm's length, pointed directly at what she guessed was the Noctumbra's throat. Its smile was still unyielding.

"Penny," said Marlon, through bursts of static. His voice was rough and raspy. He was running. "You listen to me and you listen right now. I know they're creepy and I know they're scary but you listen to me, you _listen_ to me and understand this." Marlon's voice was peppered with the occasional grunt and clang of steel. _Was he fighting his way here?_ "There's a reason people like you and I live in the world above. There's a reason we rule the planet while these things live below. There's a reason they don't come to get us at night. Because you and I, Penny, we're the scariest damn things in this mine."

Another loud grunt and clash of steel followed that sentence, peppered with increasingly raspy breaths. Penny continued holding the sword at the shadow brute as it stared her down in complete silence. Smiling.

"But it's smiling, Marlon, why would it-"

"That's not a smile!" He barked. "They live in the dark, they have no need for smiles. That's just its ugly face." Mostly out of nervous energy, Penny laughed. "They live down here," Marlon continued. "They usually live on bats and rodents and stuff, suck them dry of their energy to feed their own life force. But if something bigger like one of us comes down here, sometimes they just can't resist. But I swear to you, Penny, I promise you, they are _absolutely terrified_ of you."

"But why would they-"

"They don't understand you," he grunted. "And it frightens them."

"Yeah..." Penny narrowed her eyes, watching the shadow as closely as possible. "I know that feeling."

"No I don't think you do, Penny, listen," Marlon rasped. "They don't understand how you're still alive. They don't understand your emotions, your adrenaline, your will to fight through the bitterest of pain. Has it attacked you yet?"

"No.. it's just sort of standing there."

"Aye, it doesn't understand you. Why you're clinging to John."

"What do you mean?"

"The shadow brutes don't get attached to life like you or I do, Penny," Marlon's breathing had eased slightly, perhaps in light of the knowledge that she hadn't been attacked. "It doesn't understand why you're standing between it and John. It doesn't understand why you won't let it drain his life force, especially if he's injured anyway."

"It wants John?" Penny croaked. For the first time since spotting it, she took her eyes off the shadow and glanced at John's body, making sure she'd backed up as close to him as she could. "Over my dead body."

"Attagirl," said Marlon. "Your emotions, your passion, your adrenaline. That's what makes us much scarier than them, you understand?"

"I understand," said Penny, sword still drawn, eyes locked on the shadow. And this time, she felt confident and strong.

Suddenly, as if provoked, the shadow threw itself at Penny. With a squeak of surprise, Penny slashed right through it, severing it in two and scattering it into ashes and floating dust. Her eyes widened as she focused on the darkness behind where the shadow had stood. Many, many more eyes were locked onto her from the encompassing darkness. And these ones were charging.

"Marlon!" Penny screamed as she began hacking and slashing at each and every Noctumbra that threw themselves at her. "Marlon they're attacking! Marlon!"

"Hold on!" Marlon's voice called over the crackling radio. "I'm in the elevator on the way down, just hold on!"

Penny stabbed to the left and a lunging Noctumbra dissipated, then swished the sword right and slashed through two with one motion. Her arm was moving frantically, furiously, slicing through the darkness, culling and jabbing at every single ripple of movement. The whispers and murmurs in the darkness grew louder and louder until they were somehow shouting. Screaming whispers.

There were too many, Penny was slashing and stabbing as much as she could but they just wouldn't stop coming. She knew she had to keep fighting. She knew she could never let John die down here in the howling dark, not when she was here to save him. Not today.

Her brain began overclocking. My emotions, my passion, my adrenaline. She recited this over and over in her head, as her sword arm strengthened. Hordes of them were throwing themselves at them both, but there was no way she'd stop, no way she'd surrender. The darkness would lose and she would win. Emotions, passion, adrenaline.

Emotions, passion, adrenaline!

"Penny! Penny!" It was Marlon's voice, but it was extremely clear and sounded close by, almost as if... as if... Penny scrunched up her eyes and stopped swinging the sword. She stared in front of her, and there he was, the silver-haired, one-eyed swordsman covered head to toe in dirt and soot.

"Marlon," said Penny, dazedly. "You're here."

And with that, Penny collapsed.

* * *

Year 1, Winter 3rd

 **Thanks for reading, team!**

I won't spoil anything here for you... who knows if Penny and/or John are going to be okay?

 **Side Note:** Just in case I've explained it terribly, this [ /Shadow_Brute ] is one the creatures known as Noctumbra in my version of the Stardew Valley universe.


	14. Void Salt - Winter 4th

The air was thick with the humming drone of a curtain of rain as it lashed broadly against the sodden earth. The previously mirror-smooth surface of the shimmering lake had burst into life with a dizzying explosion of ripples, driven ever onwards into more and more complex shapes and swirls by an army of endless raindrops.

As she watched the valley around her become engulfed in the soaking embrace of a midsummer storm, Penny inhaled deeply, drinking in the euphoric elixir of damp grass and soil. She found herself sat upright against the base of a tree, sheltered from the endless downpour by the blanketing canopy of the large oak. She sat perfectly still, watching the rain batter against the surface of the lake, her book, _Legends of the Noctumbra,_ resting closed in her lap.

She couldn't quite remember how she'd gotten there, or in fact why she was there at all. It wasn't her usual spot, and she definitely didn't normally come up to the lake just to read a book. She pondered this for a few moments, before letting the thought float freely away, and she relaxed once more. It surely didn't matter.

Across from her in the distance, a short figure darted for cover underneath a small tree. Her bright, shining amethyst hair was unmistakable. It was Abigail. She was soaked from head to toe, but bore a huge, cheery grin. After leaning over and setting down a small copper oil lamp, she pulled out what looked like a thin, wooden flute. Without a dent in her grin, she raised the flute eagerly to her lips as she settled in against the base of the tree, and began to play.

The tune was airy and light, with an almost mystical and mysterious melody. The rain continued to dance across the lake, now seemingly in step with the cascading rhythm. With the warmth of a smile spreading across her face, Penny gently softened her focus before her eyes began to close. She sighed, happily, and could almost immediately feel herself drifting off into a deep slumber to the sweet flute's song.

...

The flute cut out rather abruptly, and was almost instantly replaced by the sound of voices. Penny opened her eyes and glanced back at Abby. Now there were two figures near the tree.

"John!" Abby called. "Hey, why are you out here in the rain?"

Penny straightened herself up in her seated position against the tree, taking notice of John approaching Abby's tree in the pouring rain. She leaned forwards ever so slightly, straining to hear the conversation over the clattering rainfall.

"I'm just enjoying the weather," said John, rather cheerily, running a hand through his sopping-wet hair. "I could ask you the same question!"

"Oh... I just came out here to spend some time alone," said Abby, rather slowly, casually tapping the oil lamp with the toe of her boot.

"Ah," said John, nodding and making motions to leave, "I'll leave you to it, then."

"No, hey," she said, reaching out towards him, her hand grasping into the curtain of rain. "I don't mind your company!"

John smiled brightly as he halted, turning back to face her.

"Come on," she giggled, watching John become more and more like a soaked rag cloth. She reached her hand out further into the rain and gently grabbed his arm. "You're getting soaked, come stand under the tree," she added, softly tugging him towards her.

A pang of raw emotion slashed through Penny's stomach as she watched Abby pull him in close to her underneath the small tree, his smile as bright and wide as it had ever been. A sickening mix of jealousy, anger and some kind of fear flooded her insides, and she felt as if she was filling with hot, thick water. She clenched her fists absent-mindedly as she continued to look on.

"It's difficult for you to watch, isn't it?"

Penny jerked and stared to her left. There, perfectly still, unnaturally stoic, was the wizard. He stood steadily, leaning on his staff, as if he had been there for quite some time. She stared at him, unspeaking, unable to think what she could possibly say to this question.

"Yes," the wizard toned in a long drawling syllable, as if answering his own question. "Well, if it's any consolation, it's difficult for me to watch too. Although for quite different reasons, you understand."

But Penny didn't understand. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly, as if it hadn't been used in quite some time. It was rather alarming.

The wizard smiled softly, and moved over to sit down next to her, pulling his cloak up before he did so. "John. You're infatuated with him, aren't you?"

Penny could feel her cheeks burning up. She'd never admitted it out loud, not once. The last person she'd have expected to confront her about it was him. And yet, in spite of this, a wave of serene confidence washed over her. She knew the right answer.

"Yes," she nodded, turning her attention briefly back to John and Abby, who were now talking about something softly enough that she couldn't make out the topic. "I am."

The wizard nodded, almost approvingly. "And you feel as though he does not return the interest, don't you? Or at least, you fear it."

Penny had the sudden realisation that this was a very personal confrontation from a practical stranger, and yet for some bizarre reason, she felt compelled to answer him.

"I..." she started, before trailing off completely. She mulled the thought over in her head, but didn't quite formulate a response before the wizard continued once more.

"To have someone you cherish, someone you'd wish the world for, and to not know if they'll ever feel the same way," the wizard gave a short nod, "that's the hardest thing to bare." His voice was dry and somber. He watched John and Abby with glazed eyes. "You just have to keep hoping that one day, things might change, hmm?" He glanced at Penny, and quickly registered both her confusion and sadness. "Oh but Penny, you needn't worry about such things that I do," he said, with a rather weak sounding laugh. "You two are the dream team that cracked the Spirit's Eve maze. I've felt the connection there. Like I say," he adjusted his hat with a faint smile, "you needn't worry about such things. Give it time."

Penny considered that he was probably talking about something important, but she couldn't quite glean what exactly it was. As if recognising this from her expression, the wizard continued.

"Anyway, I'm here to talk to you, Penny," said the wizard, as if it was blatantly obvious. "I wanted to have a word in private, and well," he glanced around, almost triumphantly, before adding, "I rather think this will do nicely."

"Talk?" said Penny, her voice still weak. "About what?"

"Well firstly," said the wizard, tapping his staff on the ground. "I must say, this is a rather lovely image. Memory of yours?"

Penny frowned at the odd statement. "What?"

"Penny," he said, with the air of a teacher talking to a slow student. "How did you get here, today, underneath this tree?"

Penny opened her mouth to respond, but quickly realised she had nothing to say. She hadn't a single clue as to how she'd gotten there. She lowered her eyebrows and concentrated, plucking at the most recent memory she could find, until...

She remembered. Robin, the mines, the cave in, John, the Noctumbra, the darkness, the pain, the blood, the fear.

If her voice hadn't been so croaky, she would've screamed. Instead what came out was more of a mangled chirp as she grabbed her head at the pain of the terrible images flooding into her head.

"Relax, Penny, it's alright," said the wizard, gently. "You're safe."

"But I, where I..." she stared at him, wide-eyed. "Razmodius... Where am I?"

"Right now, Penny, you're asleep in Harvey's medical bay. I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"So this is all a dream?"

"Well..." said the wizard, stroking his beard. After a few seconds of deliberation he reached out and gestured all around him. " _This_ is a dream, all of this stuff, yes." He paused, and with a rather large smile, added proudly, "but I'm real."

"How can..."

"Void salt," chirped Razmodius, nodding. "I wanted to talk to you in private, like I said, and, well, I thought... where better to do that than in your mind itself?"

"Void salt...?" said Penny, beginning to feel like the world had lost any sense it may have once made.

"Void salt," echoed the wizard. "Yes, it's a rather powerful hallucinogen. Quite good on fries, too. But used in the right way, and it's a powerful link between two minds. I hope you don't mind, I've had you inhale some in your sleep. I had to talk to you."

Penny frowned. She'd never heard of void salts, and wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Then again, last time she'd met Razmodius he had a rock that copied text, so it didn't seem too improbable that he might have access to something like void salt. "But.. why do you want to talk to me in private?"

The wizard's face rather suddenly turned quite pale and hardened, as if becoming part rock. He cleared his throat.

"Penny," he began, glancing over at John, who was now playing some kind of instrument alongside Abby. Penny glanced over too. It was some kind of mini-harp. "The mine shaft cave in. It was no accident."

Alarmed by the burst of memories that flooded her head a second time, she turned her attention sharply back to him. "What do you mean?"

"I'm fairly certain it was a trap. For you and John."

Penny considered this as a barrage of questions stormed her brain.

"Let me explain," said the wizard, as if to try and answer Penny's unvoiced questions one by one. "You remember that note you and John found on Spirit's Eve? The one that I couldn't translate?" Penny nodded, her eyes wide. "Well, I still haven't translated it yet... but I'm reasonably confident that it's some kind of ancient Noctumbran dialect. I don't know what it means, I don't know what the relevance is, but..." The wizard trailed off. He cleared his throat gruffly. "I think it's related to what happened in the mines. I think the Noctumbra targeted you both down there."

Penny paused. "I don't understand," she said.

"Neither do I. Just... stay away from the mines for now, okay? Both of you, and it shouldn't be a problem." Without much warning, Razmodius pulled himself to his feet, now watching John and Abby once more. "I'll see you when you wake up. Although, with the amount of void salts I've had... you may be awake before I am!" he chuckled.

"How do I... how do I wake up?"

"I often find," said the wizard with a cheery smile, "a bit of adrenaline is good to get the brain going again."

With a quick flash of purple smoke, Razmodius vanished into a thick haze. After a few moments, John stepped through the smoke, waving it away and out of his eyes.

"John," said Penny quickly, completely caught off guard. She glanced over at the tree where he'd been standing with Abby. She was nowhere to be seen. "Quick," she said, "come in from the rain, you're soaked."

"Penny, you're safe." John's voice was warm and brimming with relief. "I'm not sure what I would've done if..." He stopped, an adoring smile spreading across his face. Slowly, he reached out towards her face, gently sweeping a loose tuft of crimson hair behind her ear. Penny's heart was pounding against her chest as she found herself gazing into John's eyes, as he gazed right back. They were an unyieldingly intense shade of deep blue, and she couldn't quite bring herself to look away.

John leaned in slowly, his hand still adorning the side of her face. She could feel her cheeks flushing a deep, bruised scarlet as his face drew closer and closer to hers, the warmth of his breath tickling her lips. She closed her eyes and leaned in too, her heart thrashing wildly as their lips finally... but nothing happened. She opened her eyes.

...

She was staring at a white-tiled ceiling, lying flat on her back in some kind of bed. Slowly, feeling incredibly disorientated, Penny pulled herself to a sitting position. She was, as Razmodius had said, in Harvey's clinic. Her head felt tight, and as she reached up to grab it, she realised that it had been cocooned in a generous wrapping of bandages.

It was dark outside, with heavy rain lashing against the lone window at the end of the room. A small glowing digital clock read that it was around 3am. Penny slowly began to come to terms with the fact that what had happened wasn't real, even if she could swear that she could actually taste John's rugged lips on hers.

She glanced around in the dark. Next to her bed, in a brown armchair, was Razmodius, passed out and snoring gently, a bowl of some kind of light blue powder sitting atop the small table next to him. Across from her bed was another occupied bed. John's bed.

His leg was up in a full cast, suspended above the bed by a large, mechanical sling. His head was bandaged and his arms had been covered over in a few sections with thick gauze. In spite of this, just knowing that he was alive sent a flood of relief through Penny's body. She smiled at the peaceful rise and fall of his chest as he slept.

She leaned back down on the hospital bed, trying to piece together what was real and what wasn't. With an unstoppably forceful yawn, she stretched out, wincing at her writhing muscles as she did so, before gently letting her eyes drift closed, and allowing the warm embrace of sleep to carry her off once more.

* * *

Year 1, Winter 4th

 **Thanks for reading, everybody!**

It's been a long time since the last chapter... I'm very sorry about that, if you so happen to be someone who's enjoying this story. I can promise you though, that if my intention ever becomes to abandon this story (which I currently fully intend **not** to do), I will let you know! I won't let this story die without at least a heads up.

 **Side Note:** You're awesome. Have a fantastic day.


	15. Awaken - Winter 5th

"She left some flowers for you, lad," said Willy, rather cheerily. Even without opening her eyes, and before a word had been spoken, Penny had been fully aware of Willy's arrival in the medical bay. His entrance had been, as it so often was, preceded by the sudden appearance of a strong, salty musk that seemed to follow him all year round. With her eyes still closed, Penny wondered vaguely if he ever showered, or if perhaps he just naturally reeked of the ocean.

"Oh yeah," said John, his voice weak and creaky, "she did, they're beautiful. Can you do me a favour and thank her for me?"

"Aye," Willy grunted, agreeing, "I have t'see Robin about fixing a hole in the ol' boat, reckon I'll tell her then."

"Thanks, Willy. I'm just glad we got her out safely."

A rather strange sensation tingled at the back of Penny's head. She had a bizarrely strong feeling that John was now watching her, or at the very least looking in her direction. But she hadn't opened her eyes since John had awoken. For some reason, she'd felt the old, nagging insecurities flooding her once more, and the only way she could think to avoid any awkwardness was to just pretend to continue sleeping.

"Aye," said Willy, as if it was all he knew how to say. "I'd best be off, lad." There was a pause filled only by the quiet swish of a handshake. "Take care of yourself, and the lass."

As the sound of footsteps and the dissipation of the salty stench heralded Willy's departure, Penny realised that she'd have to go back to the world of social interactions eventually. At least if she opened her eyes now, she could talk to John alone.

With an involuntary flicker, Penny gently opened her eyes. It took her a few moments to adjust to the blinding white light.

The room had been held to highest standards of cleanliness. There wasn't a speck of dust or dirt in sight, and the polished white surfaces gleamed proudly in the morning sunshine, as if they were actively boasting their cleanliness. Penny set her hands down to her sides and used them to gently push herself upwards into a sitting position. She felt a little woozy as she did so, but it was a relief to be sitting up – as comfy as the hospital bed was, she'd been lying down for a long time.

"Penny!" said John from his hospital bed across from her, sitting suddenly upright, a small white card clutched in his hand. "You're awake! How're you feeling?"

"I'm…" Penny trailed off, lightly rubbing her bandaged head. She swallowed, trying not to sound awkward. "I'm okay, actually." She paused, then gestured with her head at his leg. "How about you?"

"Oh you know," said John, smiling weakly. "A bit dinged up. Harvey says I'm not going to be walking on this thing for a little while." He cocked his head, staring bleary-eyed out of the window. "At least it's winter, I'm not really missing out on any farming."

"I'm sorry, John," Penny whispered, softly. She lowered her head gently and allowed tufts of her amber hair to fall across her face, hiding her eyes. But he was smiling, almost disbelieving.

"Penny," he said with half a laugh. "You saved my life! There's not a reason in the world that you should be apologising." Penny glanced back up at him, briefly catching his eye. She wasn't sure how much he knew about what had happened, and almost as if he could read that thought on her face, John continued. "Marlon was in here earlier, told me everything. Called you 'a warrior'. Said you saved me from the Noctumbra. You're my hero, Penny." Penny blushed deeply and turned away on hearing this, a soft warmth spreading throughout her chest.

Before she could respond, a cheery voice called from the end of the medical bay. "Aha! I thought I heard your voices." Doctor Harvey strolled into the room, clipboard in hand. "Penny, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, I think." Penny nodded.

"Glad to hear it! Well, just while you're awake, think we can see what you're like on your feet?"

With a brief pause as Harvey made his way towards her, Penny responded with a quiet "sure" and adjusted herself into an even more upright sitting position.

"Well," said Harvey, now by her side and extending a hand out towards her. "Whenever you're ready."

With a gentle tug on Harvey's extended forearm, Penny gradually shifted her legs to the side of the bed. In small increments, she put more and more weight on her legs until finally she was standing upright, completely separate from the bed.

"Ooh.." she winced, rubbing her palm against the side of her head.

"Are you dizzy?" Harvey said, glancing down at his clipboard. "Here, let's walk a little, if you're up for it, I'll keep a hold of you."

After agreeing with a faint nod, Harvey stepped away from the bed, still holding Penny's arm, and beginning to make his way towards the end of the room. As they walked, Penny squinted through bleary eyes as the room began to fizzle a little out of focus, before the wooziness finally began to dissipate.

"Be careful Penny," called John, watching on from his bed. "Take it easy if you're too dizzy."

As Harvey and Penny slowly rounded the corner, Harvey paused to jot something down quickly on his clipboard, awkwardly fumbling to write neatly with one hand still steadying Penny.

"Great job, Penny. How are you feeling now? Think you can stand on your own?"

Penny paused to consider it. Her head was still pretty painful, but she didn't feel properly concussed, and the dizziness had now almost completely gone.

"Yeah," she said, although rather meekly. "I'm okay."

"Great!" Harvey slowly released his grip, letting Penny balance for herself. After watching her for a few moments to make sure she wasn't about to fall over, he went back to his clipboard to scribble one final thing down. "So, Penny, I wanted to talk to you quickly about John."

Penny lowered her eyebrows in concerned concentration. "John? What about him?"

Harvey lowered his clipboard with a smile, and gave Penny his full attention. "He needs maybe another day or two here to rest up, but then I think he needs to get outside, and perhaps recover at home. A man like John isn't going to be in the best of moods being cooped up inside all day, and it's important to keep his spirits high." Harvey smiled again, pushing his glasses further back up the bridge of his nose.

"Okay..." Penny toned, openly unsure as to how this related to her.

"Oh, right," said Harvey, picking up on her uncertainty. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I wanted to ask you how you'd feel about looking out for him while he recovers. You know, just while he's wheelchair-bound. I'd give him crutches instead, but some of that ice out there could be the death of him. I thought maybe-"

"What about Maru?" Penny said, abruptly. She bit her lip, unsure as to why she'd even ask that. She swallowed, conceding that it must have been nerves brought about by the idea that Harvey was on to her. He knew how she felt about John. Did that matter? It felt like it did.

"Maru could nurse him, sure, but it's not a nurse he needs. He needs a friend." Harvey's moustache twitched as he continued with a warm smile. "And I know you two have become good friends. I know it's not exactly busy here, but I kind of need Maru here at the clinic. But hey," Harvey trailed off as he stepped away to place his clipboard down on a side counter. "Don't feel like you have to. I just thought it might be a good thing to suggest."

Penny thought it over in silence for a few moments, still gently rubbing the side of her head. She considered John in a wheelchair trying to force his way alone through a think snow bank and getting stuck. The thought of him suffering for his action in attempting to save Robin was sickening. If she was there to help, maybe he wouldn't find the wheelchair so bad. She stiffened, nodded, and managed to give a weak, but meaningful, smile.

"It's a great idea, Harvey," she said, her smile gaining strength. "Thanks."

Harvey's eyes lit up. "Fantastic! Of course, you should check with John first, make sure he's okay with it." Harvey quickly sidestepped back to the counter and scribbled a few more things on his clipboard.

...

Penny wasn't sure if Harvey intended to walk back with her or not, so she turned by herself and slowly began moving back inside the ward.

"Hey," said John, catching her eye as she returned. "Walking by yourself? How're you doing?"

"The dizziness is gone," said Penny slowly, trying to regain the confidence she knew it was possible to have when talking with him. "I think I got off lucky. At this point it's just a glorified headache." Penny made her way towards John and leaned on a brown, bedside armchair.

John chuckled, scratching the top of his head. Penny suddenly realised why he looked so different. He wasn't wearing his cap.

"Where's your cap?" she said, glancing around to the bedside tables.

"Buried under about three tons of rock, I'd say," he laughed, with a hint of sentimental sadness. "I guess I'll need a new one."

Penny gazed at his hair, realising how soft and light it looked. In a burst of short-lived confidence, she swallowed her shyness. "I think you look nice like this. I like your hair."

For the first time that Penny could really remember, John blushed. He smiled, rubbing the top of his head as if very aware that it was the subject of attention. "Well thanks Penny," he laughed. He nodded his head towards his damaged leg. "At least that makes it sound like something good came out of this, eh?"

"I'm really sorry John." Penny said, now gently easing herself into the thick armchair.

"Ahh it's okay, really. Harvey said I'm going to be in a wheelchair for a little while, but I don't mind that all that much." His eyes didn't match the tone of his voice. Whilst he sounded upbeat and optimistic, Penny noted that his eyes remained locked sorrowfully on his bad leg.

"Well," Penny whispered, mostly out of nervousness for what she was about to say. She could feel herself blushing before she'd even said it, her face felt warm and her skin ever so slightly tighter. "You don't have to go through it alone, John. I'll be with you."

As John turned to look at her, Penny forced herself not to break eye contact immediately, but it wasn't long at all before she felt she had to cover her face, and at least try and conceal the blush a little bit.

"That's really sweet of you Penny," John beamed, a warm and smooth quality to his voice. "And I really appreciate it. But I can't let you do that. You've got much better things to do."

Penny couldn't help but giggle. "I really don't, John. Before I met you, before you came to town, I hadn't done anything adventurous. I hadn't done anything like this. I hadn't even dreamed of it. And now here I am, and if there's one thing I want to do, it's to make sure that you're rested up for our next adventure." Penny was beaming at him, brimming with pride in herself over her fresh wave of confidence. "We've got a fire opal to find, remember?"

John grinned at her, his eyes glinting. "We sure do. And, now," John adjusted his sitting position to be slightly more upright. "I may have hit my head, but I remember that we're also due to dinner in Zuzu City, my treat."

"See?" Penny added, brushing a tuft of amber hair behind her ear, still beaming. "There's no point in us splitting up now. We've got a lot to do."

"Miss Penny, Miss Penny!" yelled Jas as she bolted around the corner and headed straight for her. "Miss Penny you're okay!" Jas collided straight on top of Penny in her armchair, clamping her in the biggest hug she could give.

The bowl of light blue powder on John's side table shuddered, a light dusting spilling across the surface.

* * *

 **Year 1, Winter 5th**

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Hoo boy it's been a while since the last one, hasn't it? Unless of course you've just started reading these from the start, in which case, it's only been since you read the end of the last chapter! If you're reading this and you're someone who's been with me since the first few chapters, I encourage you to go back and re-read the story if you'd like, to get refreshed - we're not done with these characters yet! I'm just really sorry that it's been so long!

 **Fun fact:** You're awesome. Have a killer day, killer.


	16. The Farm - Winter 7th

As she gingerly pushed on the rickety metal trailer door, Penny wasn't quite sure what kind of unholy mess she'd be greeted with. Although a wall of stale and thickly booze-dampened air pounded against her as the door creaked forward, the actual trailer itself was remarkably clean. It wasn't perfect, sure, there were still some bottles here and there, but Penny knew for a fact that it had never been this clean without her.

"Mom?" Penny called, stepping into the trailer and glancing around the room, certain that she'd find a pile of rubbish or some pooled spillages.

"Kiddo!" came Pam's voice as she trundled towards her from the other side of the trailer. She gave Penny a big, toothy grin as she approached, before wrapping her meaty arms around her into a tight squeeze. "How's the head?"

"It's okay, thanks mom. Are you... how are you doing?" Penny watched her mom, almost disbelievingly. She had honestly expected to find her passed out in a sticky mess of Joja light brew, or curled up on the sofa chugging down a pale ale, not smiling and walking around in a relatively clean trailer.

"I'm doing good, kid, listen," Pam let go of her and shuffled over towards the table on the far side of the room. "I visited you in the hospital but you were out cold. Scared me half to death." She swept away a magazine and picked up a set of keys from the table, stuffing them into the rough-hemmed pocket of her frayed purple jacket. "I wish I could stick around and catch up but I gotta shoot off to the bus."

Penny smiled. "Don't worry mom, you've got a job to do. I'm going to be looking after John today anyway, I just came by to grab some of my things."

"Oh," Pam was now yanking on some dark boots. "How is the kid? You make sure he's got enough to eat."

"I will, mom," Penny laughed. She couldn't remember the last time they'd had a casual conversation quite like this.

"Alright, I gotta go kiddo," said Pam, marching towards the door. She grabbed the handle, pulled the door towards her and flashed a quick toothy grin. "Have a good one, kid."

"Love you, mom!" Penny called, just as the door clicked closed. A gentle, loving warmth spread through her chest. Pausing for several moments to savour the sensation, Penny exhaled deeply and slowly. With a renewed sense of contentedness, Penny set about to gather up her stuff.

...

"How's it feel? Ain't great is it?" said George, maintaining his usual grumbling mumble.

Penny stepped out of the trailer, closing the rickety trailer door with one hand and clutching a small bag in the other. As she walked around the side of the trailer, she saw George and John talking together. George certainly wasn't usually the kind of person to seek out a conversation, but he seemed to be perfectly happy talking to John about how miserable life in a wheelchair could be.

"And don't go thinking you'll be able to rely on your arms either - you'll be using them more than you ever have before - so they start to tire out a lot faster than you'd think." George was nodding along at his own words, as if reflecting for the first time on his hardships.

"Don't worry Mr. Mullner," said Penny, offering a kind smile as she approached. She walked around to John's side and held one handle of his wheelchair. "I'll make sure he doesn't wear himself out."

"Hmph." George grumbled, seemingly displeased at this news. "The lad should get to learn his own limits." Penny opened her mouth to respond, but without another word, George wheeled himself around, and started making his way towards his front door.

"Don't worry about George," said John, glancing up at Penny warmly. "He's not quite right about me using my arms more than usual anyway," he chuckled. "It's not like I'm lacking arm exercise on the farm."

"That's true," Penny smiled as she gently held both wheelchair handles behind John. "Ready to go?"

"Yep," said John, adjusting himself in the wheelchair. "All set."

Penny tightened her grip on the chair and began to pivot John around. She pushed John gently through the slush and ice coating the entire town. Stepping carefully as she pushed, Penny was very diligent to avoid the larger banks of thick snow that had gathered and the shiner, slippy-looking sheets of ice that clung to the wintry earth.

"Boy am I glad I've got you here," said John, as Penny pushed him onwards down the icy path out of town. "I don't know that I could push through this snow. I really appreciate it, Penny."

"You're welcome," Penny beamed, openly blushing. "Happy to help."

"And you're definitely feeling okay?" said John.

"Definitely. Harvey looked me over himself, all good to go."

"Great."

Penny couldn't see John's face, but had a rather strange sensation that he was smiling. It was almost as if she could feel the smile radiating outwards from him, as if she was physically tethered to his emotional energy.

"Hey," said John, now turning in his seat to look at Penny. "You've... you've never been to the farm, have you?"

Penny couldn't quite process the question. It seemed completely unbelievable that she hadn't. She'd definitely visited people she was close to like Maru, but John had been one of the only people Penny had grown very close to in the entire valley, and she'd never once gone to his farm.

"No," said Penny, laughing half-incredulously. "Never."

...

The farm was a spectacle to behold. They'd stopped just outside John's farmhouse to admire the beautiful landscape. The snow and ice had coated the entire field, creating a wonderfully uneven blanket of clear, sharp white flecked with sparkling, icy crystals of shimmering blue. The looming forest in the distance clung to their fair share of snow, each branch a thick white bar of snow. All across the field were small tracks and prints of every sort, animals of every shape and size leaving their very own signatures laced in the settled snow. Penny wondered for a moment how beautiful the farm would be without the generous coating of winter snow.

"You'll have to come back in the spring, you know," said John, grinning. "It's beautiful now, but wait until you see it blooming with life."

Penny smiled warmly at the thought. With a small nod and a smile, she pushed open the farmhouse door and wheeled him inside.

The room felt cosy almost instantly. Penny was aware that Robin had been over to make some improvements and build out some extensions, but it felt as if it had always been this way. Robin sure knew what she was doing. The smooth wooden panelling and darkened oak surfaces were friendly and inviting, the soft furnishings and simple decorations giving the entire home a calming, soothing feeling. As she glanced around the room, Penny realised that John's home very much represented what John himself represented to her. It was warm and inviting, and the moment she'd stepped through the doorway she'd felt safe. Protected.

"Can I get you anything?" John called, who'd managed to wheel himself over towards the kitchen without Penny even noticing.

"Oh, no thanks. In fact," Penny walked towards the kitchen. "You should rest. Can I get _you_ anything?"

John chuckled. "I don't want to keep you long, Penny. I really appreciate the help getting back through the snow, but please don't feel like you need to stay long."

Penny shrugged, feeling a little disappointed. "Well, I've got a few things for you here," she set her bag on the floor and rifled through it. "Harvey's written some exercises he recommends you do in the mornings, and there's some of your painkillers too."

Penny set the painkillers and notes down on the kitchen counter next to John, smiling gently. She then slipped past him and moved towards the other side of the kitchen. She swallowed hard, hoping to wrench out a burst of confidence from deep within. "So, first thing we need to do is to get you some food in here. I imagine all you've got left to eat here that hasn't stared going funky since you've been gone is some stale bread and cheese, am I right?"

"Probably!" John chuckled. "You don't need to buy any food."

"Don't be silly, I'll get you something," said Penny, examining a particularly crusty-looking loaf of bread. "At the very least for this evening."

"Well, if you're heading out," said John, now wheeling his way alongside the countertop towards her. "Then would you like a cup of coffee when you get back? I'm going to make some."

Penny didn't usually drink coffee, at least not very often. Somehow, though, the offer to have a chance to sit down cosily and share some hot coffee with John sounded appealing. "Yes please." Penny smiled.

As she continued to look in the fridge, the cupboards and around the kitchen generally, Penny decided that she needed to keep track of what she was going to buy. Remembering that she had taken a pen and notebook with her, Penny made her way back towards the living room where she'd set her bag down. As she ventured about halfway across the living room, there was an almighty, thundering crash from the kitchen. Eyes as wide as they could be, Penny spun around on the spot.

"John!" she squeaked, running back towards the kitchen. There, splayed out on the floor was John's struggling body, tugging on the overturned wheelchair as if trying to get back on, writhing in pain as he did so. In his left hand he clutched an empty coffee pot, having thankfully not smashed it over himself in the fall.

Penny rushed to his side, eager to relieve any weight he was being forced to put on his heavily bandaged leg. She held him up, keeping the weight of most of his torso in her arms and off the floor, just about managing to keep him still in a position that didn't seem to be hurting him.

"Are you okay?" she breathed, nervously. "That was... that was quite a bang."

"Yeah.. I'm okay. Thanks, Penny, I..." John gasped, clutching at his chest. "I... the chair just... tipped over."

"We need to get you back in the chair, but I don't know that I can put it upright without letting you go." She pivoted on her knees, John still held firmly in her arms, and moved to very gently line him up against the kitchen counter. She gingerly released her grip as she eased him into a sitting position against the counter. "Is that okay?" she whispered, as if trying not to wake someone.

"Yeah, but I think I'm going to just sit here for a while before I get back in the chair if that's okay with you." said John, still panting.

"Of course," whispered Penny softly, moving herself to sit beside him. They sat in silence for several moments, the only sound being that of John's shallow breathing. "I am so glad you weren't holding a full pot of coffee when that happened." Penny whispered. "That could've been so much worse."

Through a few raspy breaths, John chuckled quietly. He moved his hand and placed it on top of Penny's, patting it gently. "What would I do without you here, Penny?"

The thought didn't bare thinking about. John being left alone, struggling and writhing on his own kitchen floor sent shivers down Penny's spine. She winced.

"John when I go to the store, you've got to promise me that you're not going to move, okay? Not a bit." Penny tried to let her voice come out cool and only slightly concerned, but the voice she heard coming out was panicked and nervous.

John laughed softly. "So from now on I can't do _anything_ without you?"

Penny smiled, blushing at the thought that that was technically what she'd just told him. "Exactly," she laughed. "Not a thing."

"You got it, once you're gone I won't move. You'll have to make the coffee though." John laughed for a moment before petering off and holding the left side of his chest.

Penny would have pulled herself to stand up, but was very much still struggling to force the image of John writhing around on the floor, alone and in pain, out of her mind. Absent-mindedly, she held her hand up in front of her already closed eyes, as if blocking out the light would block the light from her mind's eye too.

"Penny?" said John, starting to regain his composure. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just..." she shook her head. "I'm just worried about you, John."

"You're... you're welcome to stay, you know." Penny glanced at him, puzzled. "I have a spare bed. You could stay as long as you like." Penny's cheeks were burning a hot scarlet, to the point that she felt as though she was becoming one solid color from her hair to her chin. She continued looking at him, unsure what to say, or how to say it. John cleared his throat and continued. "That way, you know that I'm okay, and you can have a little space from your mom, I know you've been looking to get Robin to build you your own place." As Penny's speech remained frozen, John persisted. "I mean, of course, that's if you want space from your mom. You don't have to stay, I just thought I'd offer. Plenty of room for two of us to stay here."

As Penny watched him, frozen in silence, she realised that John was stammering slightly. Slurring his words a little. Repeating a syllable every now and then, or slowing down as if carefully considering his next word. Her realisation gave her a small - and very welcome - boost of confidence. He was nervous.

She reached her hand up to her face and slowly tucked a tuft of auburn hair behind her ear. Smiling, her face still a burning shade of crimson, there was only one thing she could say. "I'd love to."

* * *

 **Year 1, Winter 7th**

Thanks for reading, everyone!

I hope you're enjoying the story so far, and I hope you guys had an awesome holiday season! It's been a good chance for me to look back on my story so far. Please leave a review to let me know if you're loving or hating what you're reading here, I really really value hearing from you guys more than anything else!

 **Fun fact:** A newborn panda can weigh less than an iPhone. **Bonus Fact:** Life can be hard sometimes - As a fellow human, I'm always here if you need me.


	17. Festival of Ice - Winter 8th

It was a very strange thing to wake up in an actual house. There was no indication, as far as Penny could tell, as to what the weather was like outside, other than peering through the curtained window. If the wind was heavy, there wasn't an icy draught to tip her off. If the rain was lashing, she couldn't hear it pounding the roof. She'd entirely forgotten that this was exactly what it was like to wake up somewhere other than a tiny metal trailer.

She stretched herself out, savouring the masses of space she had on the large, soft bed. With a long, drawn-out yawn, she gently eased herself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed.

The room was cosier than any Penny had ever slept in. Large panels of oaken wood lined the walls, on which a few landscape paintings hung. Penny squinted at them for a few moments to see if they were of anywhere in the valley, but she didn't recognise them. Gentle, wintry sunlight was streaming in through the small window at the end of the room, bathing a small armchair and table in the glow of the morning sun. Across from the armchair was a small dresser and a pale plastic waste bin. In the centre of the room, just about reaching over to the foot of the bed, was a large charcoal rug, which looked very, very soft.

Penny shook her head, smiling, still unable to believe that she was lucky enough to stay the night in such a comfortable room. Glancing at a small cream clock on the wall behind her, and noting that it was still early, Penny decided that she could show her appreciation to John by making him some breakfast.

Quickly slipping out of bed and changing her clothes, Penny flattened out her hair and clipped it back before making her way downstairs towards the kitchen. To her surprise, however, she was greeted at the foot of the stairs by the sight of John, who was already in the kitchen.

"Penny!" he said, beaming at her as she made her way towards him. "Good morning! How'd you sleep?"

"Really well," she said, "I can't really thank you enough."

"Don't thank me," said John, smiling gently and waving one hand in the air as if to dismiss her words. "It's clearly a selfish thing for me to do," he chuckled, "it means you're around more to look out for me!"

Penny smiled warmly. "Well I was going to make breakfast, but I didn't realise you were such an early riser!"

"Ah it happens when you live on a farm," said John, now wheeling himself towards the kitchen counter. "Why don't we make breakfast together?" He raised an eyebrow at her, grinning. "I bet you've never had chicken's eggs as fresh as these."

...

Penny had certainly never tasted eggs quite like those. They sat together at the kitchen table, having just cooked up a veritable feast. With her breakfast of scrambled eggs, hot toast, crispy bacon and fresh juice, she felt as though she was dining like royalty. It was a far cry from the usual slice of dry Joja medium-slice white toast she had in the mornings before she left, which was often cold by the time she'd get around to eating it, due to getting carried away with her usual morning cleanup routine.

"So," said John, pulling her out of her trail of thought. "You ready for the fishing?"

Penny frowned, having only just noticed the fishing rod leaning against the table next to him. "Oh!" she said, having thought for a few moments. "The ice fishing contest?"

"Exactly, I'm going to need you," said John, tapping the fishing rod proudly. "Think they'll let us do it together? A wheelchair on ice isn't exactly going to give me the best grip on the fishing line."

Penny smiled, taking a sip from her juice as he spoke. "I'm sure they will." She bit her lip slightly, trying not to let her shyness set in, as she continued. "After all, we make a great team."

"Damn right we do," chuckled John, now reaching across the table and piling plates together.

"Oh, let me get that, John," said Penny, now rising to her feet and easing the plates out of John's hands. "It's the least I can do."

"Thanks, Penny," said John, relinquishing the plates with a smile. "You don't have to."

"Trust me," she said, now moving towards the metal kitchen sink. "If I were at home right now, I'd probably be doing at least ten times as much cleaning."

As Penny turned away and began loading the dishes into the sink, John waited behind at the kitchen table, tapping his chin in thought. After a few moments, he scratched at the stubble of his chin and cleared his throat.

"You're always welcome here, Penny," he said, "but equally I understand if you decide you want to stay at home instead."

Penny swallowed hard, keeping her attention focused on the soapy dishes. She could feel the all too familiar blush spreading across her face. "If it's really okay with you," she said, slowly turning to face him, "as long as you're in that wheelchair, I want to stay. Especially after what happened with you yesterday."

A wide, shining grin spread across John's face, his eyes lighting up. "Of course it's okay with me! Having someone else here made me realise how alone I am out here, you know?" he said, rubbing the back of his neck, still smiling. "Oh hey," he said, before she could answer. "Before we head out, I need to feed the chickens for the day. Marnie's not coming by to look after them anymore now that I'm back. Want to come see them?"

"Sure," said Penny, moving the clean wet plates to the side of the sink. "I didn't know you had any animals!"

John chuckled as he led the way out the front door, fishing rod in hand.

...

They made their way across the snowy yard, Penny pushing John's wheelchair along through the thick slush. There weren't any animals out in the yard; they were instead being kept inside their coop, sheltered from the Valley's harsh winter. As John edged the door to the coop open with the boot heel of his good leg, a cocktail of warmth and rather strong indeterminate animal smells washed over them. It took a few moments, but Penny adjusted to the smell, and actually, didn't notice it at all a few moments after that.

It was wonderful to see John here, in a place where he was completely in his element. As soon as they'd entered the coop, it was clear that he loved his animals to pieces, and rather clear that they loved him back, too. The chickens had crowded around him for several moments before one of them got a little flustered by the turn of the wheelchair and they collectively returned to their peacefully nestled corner of the coop. Penny was reminded of his excitement about the Juminos, and how deeply he seemed to care about the creatures in the world around him. Without being fully aware of it, she found herself watching him fondly, an admiring smile upon her face.

"Here we are," said John, pushing his way over to a barrel of hay and grabbing a fistful. He wheeled himself around and up to where most of the chickens had gathered, on a small cluster of nests and bundles of soft-looking blankets. "Feeding time everybody," he said, spreading the food out amongst the chickens for them to peck at it at their leisure. He paused for a moment, glancing around. "One, two, three, four, five..." he muttered, still looking around and craning his neck. "I have six chickens, where's...", he glanced back at the chickens. "I'm missing one."

"Really?" said Penny, now also glancing around the coop. "Are you sure he's not in here somewhere?"

"Pretty sure," said John, scratching his head. "Cluck's not here. I called him that because he just doesn't stop clucking," he chuckled, letting down more food for the hungry chickens. "So we'd know if he was in here... we'd hear him!"

Penny tapped her lip, unsure as to where else she could look to find Cluck.

"Well it's not like he was getting out of the coop," said John, now pivoting around and tilting his head in the direction of the coop door. "Unless he learned how to undo a door bolt. I bet he was unwell or something and Marnie's got him for safe keeping, I can't see what else it would be."

Penny smiled. "That's probably it," she said. "Marnie loves nursing animals."

"That she does," John grinned. He pulled back the sleeve of his coat and checked a small dark brown watch. "Ah, we better get going," he said, looking up at Penny cheerily. "We've got a fishing competition to win."

...

The Festival of Ice had always had a special place in Penny's heart. It was the one festival of the year that her mom could be relied upon to be completely sober, or at least mostly sober. Pam had always fancied herself a keen ice fisher, despite having never really taken up regular fishing, so she was reliably sober for the competition. Of course, that meant that she would be on the drink as soon as the competition was over, but at least that meant she'd spend _some_ time sober.

Not only did the adults get hyped around the ice fishing, but the kids loved the Festival of Ice too, purely for the chance to get out and play in the snow for a whole entire day. They'd make entire fields of snow angels, and their snowball fights were legendary. Last year, Jas had managed to set off a snowball fight that got the entire town involved. That game had resulted in even Rasmodius' getting involved, and wowing everybody by transforming the crystal white snowballs into shimmering balls of bright gold, silver and rainbow auroras. The moment they'd set foot in Cindersap Forest, Penny couldn't help but smile - this year was no different.

"Miss Penny, miss Penny!" called Vincent, trudging excitedly towards them through the deep snow. "Come and help us build Terry!"

"Terry?" Penny laughed. "Who's Terry?"

"Terry the snowman!" yelled Jas, who was standing by the snowman that was, presumably, Terry.

They followed an excited Vincent back to Jas and Terry. Jas, who'd been patting down Terry's head, was now staring at it, seemingly deep in thought, her eyebrows weighing down on her eyes.

"What'cha thinking?" said Vincent, adding more snow to Terry's base.

"I dunno! It needs... Miss Penny, what's missing?"

Penny smiled. "Hmmm," she said, crouching down next to Terry. "It needs... a face!"

"A face!" said Jas, laughing and clapping her mittened hands together. "Vincent, Terry has no face! What do we make his face out of?"

"Hmm," said Penny again, now standing up. "What do you think, John?"

John rubbed his chin, smiling as he looked Terry up and down. "Terry, to me, looks like a pretty cool guy. A pretty cool guy needs a pretty cool face." Jas was watching John intently, eager to hear more. "He needs pine cone eyes, and icicle antenna! Yes, he's no ordinary snowman.. he's a snow-mutant!"

Jas' eyes lit up. "Yeah!" she beamed, now eagerly picking up snow and adding it to the top of his head. "He is! He's a snow alien!"

"We need to find some icicles for his antenna!" squeaked Vincent excitedly, swinging his head around wildly as if hoping to find some right next to him. "Come on, Jas!"

With that, the two of them hurtled off together through the snow.

"Terry the alien," said Penny, smiling warmly. She wanted to place her hand on John's shoulder in front of her, and almost did so. She'd managed to reach out slightly, before her shyness got the better of her, and retracted her hand. "That's a really fun idea."

"Mutant was my idea, the alien part was all her," said John, laughing as he continued to watch the kids run off. "And I've got to hand it to her - an alien is much better!"

"John! Penny!" a voice called from across the way. Both Penny and John turned around to face the lake of ice, to see Demetrius coming towards them. "How are you both?"

"Doing good, Demetrius," said John, glancing up at Penny and very gently tapping his leg. "Can't complain."

"Great," he smiled, a genuine kindness in his voice as he came to a halt beside them. "I just wanted to thank you both for what you did, for what you put yourselves through, for Robin. I came by while you were in hospital but you were both asleep. I just..." he trailed off and faltered slightly, wringing his hands. "I can't thank you enough."

John beamed at him. "I'm sure you would've done the same for us, we just wanted to help." John glanced behind Demetrius at the lake of ice, where most of the town had gathered. "Where's Robin?"

"Oh, she's at home today," he said, nodding his head. "It's nothing to do with her injuries, she's pretty much completely recovered, but she's actually just feeling a bit ill, so she's having a lie down."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Penny. "Tell her I hope she gets well soon."

"I will," Demetrius smiled. "Evelyn's already made her enough soup to see her through to next Winter! She's got this special recipe that she loves to-"

"John!" yelled a voice from across the icy lake. "Are ye fishin'? It's startin'!" It was undeniably Willy.

"Yes! I'll do my best!" John called, using his hand to cup the side of his mouth. "I'm sorry Demetrius, looks like things are starting."

"Let's go," said Demetrius, grinning. "I've been looking forward to it!"

...

Across from the lake were beautiful ice sculptures where the more artistic members of Pelican Town had gathered. Leah had brought all of her tools with her and had them laid out on a blanket in the snow, at the foot of her master creation - a shimmering mermaid, carved cleanly out of the lightest ice. Elliot had also carved out his own sculpture, which had taken shape into a large, proud-looking dog. Penny swore that even from across the lake she could see rippling definition in the ice, as if the dog had a fluffy coat of ice.

The rest of Pelican Town had gathered around the ice lake. There were four pre-cut holes in the ice for the four competing champions. Willy, the reigning champion, Pam, who was thankfully looking completely sober, Elliot, who'd now left his dog sculpture in Leah's capable hands, and finally, John and Penny's. They were each standing ready by their holes.

"How do you want to do this?" said John, glancing up at Penny. "Would you like to fish?"

"I don't think the student has become the master quite yet," she laughed, moving to stand behind him, gripping the wheelchair. Once again she wanted to place her hand down on his shoulder. She swallowed, mulling the thought over in her head as quickly as she could. In that moment, she thought back to the Spirits' Eve Festival, when she found herself crying over a cauldron. Crying into John's chest. She focused on that moment, on how he'd held and comforted her, and tried to use it as evidence to prove to herself that simply placing her hand on his shoulder wasn't strange.

"Ready?" Lewis shouted, who was standing at one side of the lake, a whistle held very close to the tip of his moustache.

With a nod small enough to only be noticed by herself, she gently lowered her gloved hand onto his shoulder. "I'll keep you steady, teammate."

A moment or so before she went to move her hand away, John reached back and placed his hand on hers. He looked back at her and smiled warmly. "I appreciate it, teammate." Penny could feel her face, as it inevitably always did, flooding crimson. She couldn't help but return his smile. With a small squeeze of her hand, he slowly let go and turned back to face the hole in the ice.

"Go!" screamed Lewis, and the four fishers moved into action.

Willy was, of course, producing fish out of the hole as if they were drawn to him like a magnet. Pam, who'd managed to catch a very small fish, was extremely pleased and didn't seem to have any urgency any more, and was already shouting at Gus about how he'd have to cook it up for her at the saloon. Elliot had caught a few, but was currently wrangling with a particularly large fish, which eventually brought him lower to the ground as he placed one foot either side of the hole and pulled with all his might.

Penny tightened her grip on John's wheelchair as it began to pull forwards, large fish tugging them both towards the water. She managed to somehow ground herself and hold steady on the ice, keeping the prospect of John falling forwards into the water in her mind as her incentive to not let go.

About halfway through, the fishing line leapt from John's hands, having slipped cleanly out. The rod itself slammed against the hole, being _just_ long enough to not go straight into the water. Without a second thought, Penny let go of the wheelchair and jumped towards the rod, grabbing it and tugging it back from the hole.

"You can do it!" said John, who'd been unable to lean forwards in the wheelchair and grab the rod back. "You've got this."

She reeled the fishing rod back and arched her back away from the hole. After a moment or two of shaking and readjusting the line, she gave an almighty pull and managed to wrench the belligerent fish straight out of the water. With a triumphant laugh, she quickly unhooked the fish and added it to their box. A smile still plastered to her face, she handed the rod back to John.

"Incredible, Penny," said John, casting the rod back into the water. "I told you I needed you!"

...

The whistle blared a second time, and the competition was over. Pam had turned in a grand total of two fish, with which she was overjoyed. Elliot had managed three, one of which was absolutely enormous. Willy, who was visibly panting, had managed to haul in six equally huge fish.

Mayor Lewis made the rounds between the four contestants, counting up everyone's fish. Gently sliding towards the centre of the lake, he rubbed his mouth and cleared his throat loudly enough to get everyone's attention.

"Our winners today," he shouted, capturing everyone's attention. In one swift motion, he swung his hand towards them. "John and Penny!"

They'd caught a grand total of seven fish.

A chorus of cheers and clapping erupted all around them from everybody watching. Pam, who clearly hadn't even realised Penny was there taking part, spun around, shouting "that's my girl!" through a toothy grin, fish still in hand. Several people came up to them, still clapping and wooing.

Penny could feel her face blushing desperately, flushing a deep, unyielding crimson. She exchanged a look with John, who was beaming at her, and she couldn't help but giggle.

"One hell of a team," he said.

* * *

 **Year 1, Winter 8th**

Thanks for reading, team!

It's the fishing contest! The one that Penny thought of as something to talk to John about back when they were on the riverbank. Ahh, she's grown since then, hasn't she? Well they've still got more growing to do, together! Please let me know what you think, I love hearing from you all. Have a fantastic day!

 **Side note:** Has anyone seen Cluck?


	18. Junimos - Winter 15th

_Kyn stood tall at the Gates of Reliquiae, his army bristling with the strength of the Golden Light, and challenged the Lords of the Coming Dark. The unyielding roar of the sheep-skin drums keeping them true, their whalebone flutes carrying them ever onwards, they marched the Empty One into the Wretched Abyss, where no Man dared to tread._

 _It was Urik the Broken, last of the Hanguardian Clerics, who was first to turn. Corrupted by the ensnaring dark, fear consumed his soul. With his malformed heart and blackened soul, Urik was quick to betray his own kind. Jarrin, firstborn of Kyn, was slain as he stood - alongside many other valiant unsung Heroes of the Golden Light - before Urik's soul tore itself apart, and slipped wholly into the Abyss. Urik was henceforth remembered as The Wretched Lord, Lord of the Abyss, Bringer of the Dark Taint._

"Hey, Penny," called a voice. Penny snapped back into reality, jerking her head away and out of her copy of _The Empty One: A Tale of Darkness._ It was always rather disorientating to hear her name mid-story. She looked up at the source of the voice - John. "Oh I'm sorry," he said, half-chuckling. "Did I catch you off guard?"

She hadn't expected to see John in the library, all the way across town. When she'd first heard his voice, she assumed it must have been Gunther, or perhaps even Vincent coming back in.

"Only a little," she smiled, closing the book and placing it down in her lap. She was sitting at the low table in the library, comfortably perched cross-legged on a large cushion. She frowned at him. "How did you get here through the snow?"

"Oh, I'm getting used to it I think," said John, now wheeling his way towards her, rather cheerily. He made his way over to the table and pulled up alongside it. "Where are the kids?"

"They're just on a break, they're playing outside for a bit," said Penny, gesturing with her hand at the notes and sheets of paper next to her on the table, many of which were covered in the telltale scrawls of childish handwriting. "Why?"

John smiled, and reached up to his head. He paused, his hand still in the air a few inches away from his head, then laughed. "I forget I don't have that cap any more," he chuckled, lowering his hand. "I swear I can still feel it sometimes," he said, now adjusting himself in his seat. "Well... I was wondering if the kids would like to help out the town."

Penny watched him for a moment, then raised an eyebrow uncertainly.

"So, you remember the Junimos, right?" John continued, gaining a certain enthusiasm in his voice.

"Of course," said Penny, smiling fondly as she remembered watching him with the Junimos. She then remembered the moment they'd shared, very close together, quite soon after. Fearing a sudden blush, she tried to blank the thought from her mind.

John grinned widely. "They're fixing up the community centre, and they need a hand. I'm not quite as helpful as I used to be," he said, losing a little enthusiasm, his eyes darting down at the wheelchair. "But I thought the kids might get a kick out of meeting the Junimos. Unless, of course, they're in the middle of something."

Penny picked up her grading pen from the table and tapped the lidded-end lightly against her bottom lip. "I don't think there's a lesson more important than helping others," she said, placing the pen back on the table, a bright smile on her face.

John beamed at her, visibly excited once again. "They'll love it!"

...

"Mom says Junimos aren't real," said Vincent, poking Jas as he spoke. They'd both been perplexed about the idea of entering the rundown community centre. Penny had arrived with them at the centre, with John having headed back there already.

"They're very small," said Penny, placing her hand on the old wooden door and pushing it open. "And very friendly. You'll see for yourself, in fact," she said, now stepping just inside the doorway and gesturing for the two of them to follow on inside. "Look."

In the centre of the room was John, moving past them towards the other side, a bundle of large wooden planks clutched tightly on his lap. He was making his way towards two small basketball-sized creatures. One was a purple-reddish color, excitedly bouncing on the spot as John approached, while the other, a bluish-green Junimo, watched his friend with a gleeful giggle. John managed to lift off one of the planks from his pile, and together the two Junimos held it above their heads, sharing the weight. With a light, happy chirp, the two Junimos took the board and began moving off towards another room.

Eyes as wide as they'd ever been, Jas and Vincent couldn't quite believe what they were seeing. Craning their necks and glancing at every single inch of the room, they wanted to see everything. Junimos were climbing all over! Walking along the rafters, helping to patch holes in the roof, hanging off the walls, replacing rotten panels, climbing the vines all over the room, transporting various supplies, up and down, to and fro, the room was alive with activity.

"Mister!" yelled Jas, running over to John, who was smiling cheerily. The Junimos paused at this, having been startled by the loud noise, but settled back into what they were doing a few moments later. "Junimos? They're real? They're...?"

"They are, Jas," said John, extending his arms out to gesture at the room at large. "They're helping us rebuild our community centre. So I'm here to help them help us!"

"Can we help, can we help?" Jas pleaded, her eyes still wide with wonder.

John chuckled. "Ohh I'm not the boss here," he said, spinning his wheelchair around. He pointed at a very jolly-looking blue Junimo, who was standing relatively still, at least for a Junimo. "He'll know how you can help."

Jas, with Vincent hurrying along behind her, thundered excitedly up to the blue Junimo. As far as Penny could tell, this caused the Junimo to start singing in strange haunting melodies; tunes and notes that didn't form any kind of coherent sentence or meaning. She had no idea what it meant, but found it captivating nonetheless; the strange, powerful melody washing over her.

The kids, however, seemed to know exactly what it meant.

"I'll get the bags," squeaked Vincent excitedly. "See if you can find the missing bookcase! Sounds like it's in the back somewhere!" With that, the two shared excited glances, and bolted in different directions.

"How did they..." said Penny, watching as the two kids set off through the community centre.

"How did they understand him?" John smiled, clearly anticipating her question. "Apparently," he continued, now wheeling himself towards her. "We all knew what they were saying when we were kids. According to Rasmodius, anyway." He shrugged. "Somewhere, in the course of growing up, we lose it. You can study it and learn it again, but..." John paused, laughing to himself as if he'd seen the most pleasing thing in the world. "He said it was all part of the magic of childhood."

"Do you understand them?" said Penny, keeping a watchful eye on Vincent as he trundled back into the room holding as many empty cloth sacks as he could.

"A little, yeah. Rasmodius showed me how."

Penny was beaming, she couldn't help but admire him. With a bit of a nervous internal struggle, she tried not to let her admiration spill out too heavily into her tone of voice. "This is fantastic, John," she said, warmly. "Now... how can I help, too?"

...

The four of them spent a good part of the next few hours helping out the Junimos and working to restore the building, although it never felt like any hard work. Vincent had decided his favourite thing to do was to have a look at all the rooms with three other Junimos and help plan where everything was going to go, and how it all would look. He'd even named the Junimos - unless Penny simply couldn't understand them when they'd said their names - Jobe, Nemo and Finn.

While Jobe, Nemo, Vincent and Finn wandered in and out of each room, seemingly chirping gibberish and noting down how each room would look, Jas had been moving around each room, helping provide supplies to the Junimos that needed it. She would eagerly bring boards to the Junimos fixing up the southern wall, and boxes of nails and tacks to the Junimos fixing up the dilapidated kitchen. She relished in the opportunity to explore the entire centre, going on an adventure each time to find the supplies they needed.

John had found himself the rather pleasing role of lifting the Junimos up to higher places, such as helping to propel them up to the rafters, where they could work on the roof. With each one lifted into the air they chirped with glee, sailing upwards for a brief moment.

When he wasn't busy lifting them into the air, he spent his time reading and trying to understand the various signs around the centre, presumably written by the Junimos, that seemed to indicate what additional supplies they'd need from outside the centre.

Penny was helping out where she could, carrying supplies and helping John pass Junimos up to higher platforms. She was also occasionally dipping in and out with Jas or Vincent, checking up on them, and making sure they were both still having fun.

"They're loving it," said Penny, having just come back from the southern storage room. "Vincent's in there picking out pictures to hang on the walls. I think he feels like one of them!"

John chuckled, wheeling himself towards her. "I was hoping they'd get a kick out of it," he said, grinning. "Are you having a good time?"

Penny nodded, earnestly. "I am. Are..." she trailed off, now glancing just left of John. Laid out on the floor was a dark blue blanket, on top of which sat a weaved picnic basket, complete with cups and plates laid out surrounding it.

John turned to face the picnic blanket, taking note that she'd spotted it. "It's a present," he said, grinning. "From the Junimos."

"Wow," she said, gently stepping towards the picnic. "Really? Why?"

"To say thanks."

Penny knelt down on the blanket, it was soft and warm, as though it was new from the warmth of its creator's hands. She ran her fingers along the lid of the weaved basket. The craftsmanship in the finely interlocked strands was impeccable. As she pulled the lid open softly, she was greeted on the inside with a picnic basket stuffed to bursting.

Cupcakes of all colors sat atop a cornucopia of sandwiches, each seemingly made with a different kind of bread, filled with a ream of thick meats and soft cheeses, all of it cozied up against warm flasks of freshly brewed tea and luxuriously rich coffee. Nestled amongst the sandwiches were several different kinds of fruit, from bananas and apples down to some mangos and a fistful of juicy grapes.

"This is incredible," said Penny, her eyes widening as she gently moved things aside to look through the rest of the basket.

John grinned, now spinning himself around. "Jas, Vincent!" he shouted, waving them over from the other room where they'd been planning together what they were going to do next. "Lunch time!"

Even though the picnic was enormous, the four of them managed to work their way through most of the food. Jas and Vincent spent most of their time swapping stories, giggling through mouthfuls of food. Vincent recounted a story about pulling out a Junimo who'd gotten stuck upside-down in a barrel and Jas ended up spitting juice out in laughter.

Although the two kids were desperate to eat more of the cupcakes, Penny was careful to make sure they didn't have too many sugary treats. Especially as she knew Jodi wouldn't be too happy if Vincent came home buzzed on a sugar rush.

After they'd eaten the rest of their share, and after much begging, Penny conceded that if they helped the Junimos a little more, they could come back and have another cupcake. No sooner had she said the words than the kids had dashed off to find the Blue Junimo once again. To them, there was no way that helping the Junimos was a chore. It was an adventure.

"Oh, hey," said Penny, having finished the last bite of her cheese sandwich. She was half-sitting, half-lying down on the blanket, her left arm propping her up in a mostly vertical position. "Did you get Cluck back from Marnie?"

Before they'd started eating, John had managed to pull himself off the wheelchair, with the help of the others, and sit comfortably on the soft blanket. He adjusted himself as he spoke. "No actually," he said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "I meant to tell you. When I talked to Marnie she said that Cluck had been there while I was in the hospital! And that he was fine. She doesn't know where he's gone either."

Penny frowned at him, unsure what to say. After a few moments, she decided that a longer pause could be awkward. "I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere."

John shrugged. "I hope so," he said, rather solemnly. "I don't really get it." After several seconds of staring at his hands in contemplative silence, his face lit up. "Oh," he said, looking back at Penny. "This morning, just a little after you left to teach the kids, Robin came by to thank us again for rescuing her. She even dropped off a cake!"

"That's very sweet of her," said Penny, smiling warmly. She still found herself wondering about Cluck though.

"Yeah, she kept thanking me," chuckled John. "And I kept telling her it was you she needed to thank!"

Suddenly Cluck was the last thing on Penny's mind. She felt the warmth of her blushing face spread like water washing over stone. She smiled shyly, opting to look at the picnic basket instead of John for a moment. She wanted to tell him how much he meant to her, how hard she was willing to fight on his behalf, how he'd somehow made wielding a sword and fighting for her life in the pitch darkness a piece of cake. How he'd made her feel. Capable. Important. Special.

Before she could even begin to contemplate how she would start talking to him about _any_ of those feelings, John continued.

"Ah," he said rather suddenly. "Thinking of the mines and all that, that reminds me of something."

Penny, still contending with her nervous energy, willed herself to look up at John.

"We made plans down there, didn't we?" He grinned. "So... what do you think? ZuZu City, this Saturday?"

Penny's heart leapt. She was once again confronted with the question - what did John see this trip as? A date? Just another adventure? Just a trip as friends? She tried hard as she swallowed her burst of shy energy to not let it come through in her voice.

"Saturday," she said, stammering slightly. Her face was definitely crimson now. "That sounds great." She hoped that in attempting to suppress her nervousness she hadn't managed to suppress her enthusiasm. If one thing was for sure, she was definitely excited.

"Fantastic!" said John, beaming at her. "We'll plan something. I didn't want it to be one of those things that gets talked about but never happens, you know? And I figure while we're staying under the same roof would be a better time than any!"

"Will you," said Penny, slowly, now considering how her voice sounded. "Will you still need the wheelchair, do you think?"

John considered this for a moment, drumming his fingers along the side of the thermos cup he was holding. "Yeah I'm pretty sure," he said, finally. "Rasmodius gave me these weird healing gems, he said it should move the healing along a _lot_ faster. Harvey couldn't quite believe the progress! Looks like I'm going to be back on my feet in time for Spring," he beamed.

"I didn't know the Wizard was helping," she said, smiling warmly. "That's great."

The bittersweet thought entered her mind that although it would be a wonderful thing for John to recover, she'd also lose any reason to be staying with him. And, in surfacing this thought, she realised that it wasn't his home that she'd miss, or the farm, or anything like that. It was just simply being with him. With John she felt like so much more of a fully fledged person than without him. She'd rather live together underneath a bridge than live without him in a palace.

"And," said Penny, slowly. "Are you sure it's okay that I'm staying with you still?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" He chuckled, taking a sip of coffee from his cup. "As far as I'm concerned, you should definitely stay, you make the wheelchair life a little more sane." He put down his coffee, frowning slightly. "But I was thinking about Pam. Is she okay? Living alone?"

"I think so," said Penny, nodding. "She's... well, she's probably still drinking just as much. I do think about her a lot."

John nodded silently, his frown persisting.

"But," she said, trying to recapture an air of cheeriness. "She needs to learn to handle her own situation. She's become too dependent on me... Maybe this'll be good for her."

"I don't want her to resent me for taking you away from her," said John, half-laughing, half-serious.

"She won't," said Penny, smiling warmly, trying her best to be reassuring. "Honestly, John, she'll see how much better you've made my life than it used to be." She bit her lip immediately after closing her mouth. She hadn't quite meant to share as much as that, hadn't quite meant to tell him how he'd changed her, hadn't quite meant to let her admiration for him spill out in such a way.

John smiled at her. If Penny didn't know any better, she could swear he was blushing, too. Given a tiny boost of courage, she collected her thoughts, and was about to continue, before John spoke.

"If I can improve the life of someone as wonderful as you, Penny, then I can't be all bad."

Penny shyed away slightly, her face flooding crimson, a smile of both nervous energy and embarrassment spreading across her face. She bit her lip gently as she formulated what she wanted to say. Although if she was being honest with herself, she already knew exactly what it was, she was just trying to work up the courage to do it.

"You know, John," she said, already unnerved by the audible quivering of her own voice. "I... can't believe how lucky I am." She couldn't quite bring herself to look him in the eye, and instead chose to watch her own hands as she slowly twiddled her fingers together.

John smiled at her, raising an eyebrow.

"I used to have nightmares, you know, a lot of the time." She closed her eyes, as if trying to convince herself that John wasn't there, that she was instead talking to herself in a dark room, and it didn't matter what she said. "All sorts of things. Monsters. Endless darkness. Horrible stuff." She nodded her head, silently, as if confirming to herself that this was true. "But... I don't get them any more. Not really. Not since..." she giggled nervously, trailing off and rubbing her arm absent-mindedly. "Rain used to keep me up in the trailer, now I love it. But I don't think it's that, in fact, I know that..." she trailed off once again, as if a physical knot was forming in her throat. Resolving that it would be more awkward to stop talking now than continue, she pressed on, swallowing hard to flush out the lump in her throat. "It's you, John. I'm a different person with you, and I'm so much more who I _want_ to be." Finally, with all of her might, she forced her head upwards and looked him in the eyes. "And I can't think how I could've been luckier than to have met you."

John watched her, a warm, friendly smile remaining persistently on his face. He cleared his throat and started rubbing the back of his neck. "Penny..." he said, his voice soft and gentle. _Definitely_ , Penny thought. _He's definitely blushing._

For a few, intense moments, their eyes stayed locked, watching each other fondly across the picnic blanket.

"Miss Penny, Miss Penny!" screamed Jas, bolting over from around a corner. Vincent was rushing in behind her. "Gotta go home now! Can we have a cupcake?" She said, hurriedly kneeling by the picnic basket. "Please? Oh pleeeease?"

* * *

 **Year 1, Winter 15th**

Thanks for reading, team!

This chapter got away from me a little bit, I'm sorry it's so long! Penny and John had a lot to talk about, you see. And soon we're off to ZuZu City! Penny's never really been a city girl.

Please let me know what you think, I love hearing from all of you, and have a killer day, killer.

 **Side note from Vincent:** Mom still doesn't think Junimos are real!


	19. Bonus Ch 2 - Part 1 of 2 - Winter 20th

Bonus Chapter #2 - Part 1!

So this is a bonus chapter because it takes place outside of Stardew Valley - ZuZu City! And it's in two parts! It felt strange having regular chapters set outside the Valley, so these are just bonus fun!

If you've made it this far into the story and you're still enjoying it, you have no idea how awesome that is! Let's keep this thing going~

* * *

"Hang on, I think the back bit's stuck," said Lewis, wheezing.

Pam and Lewis were helping to ease John up the steps of the bus, squeezing the wheelchair in tightly. Penny was watching from behind, mildly anxious about John being dropped. She wanted to help, but it didn't look like there was room for a third person to squeeze in. They eventually managed to get it him inside completely and set him down.

"You can sit your wheelchair in there," said Pam, sitting down in the driver's seat and pointing at a cleared space inside the bus. "I had some of the seats pulled out to make space for luggage and stuff."

"Thanks Pam," said John, smiling earnestly at her. He leaned forwards to see Lewis boarding the bus. "And thanks for your help too, Lewis."

Mayor Lewis, who was marginally out of breath, tipped his cap at him. "Not a problem!" he said, cheerily. "I was off to ZuZu anyway. Got some exciting plans to discuss with someone in the city!" Without continuing with an explanation, Lewis furrowed his moustache excitedly and made his way down the bus, sitting down in a row behind John.

Penny was next to board the bus and followed Lewis inside, careful not to slip on the ice as she did so.

John smiled at her as she came aboard. "So, you ready to leave the Valley?"

As Penny walked down and took her seat beside him, she mulled this question over in her head. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd been out of Stardew Valley. She glanced out of the window, the gentle country path winding its way through the elegant snow-capped forest back towards Pelican Town in the gentle late-afternoon winter sun. Almost immediately, she felt a very strange mix of homesickness and excitement.

The Valley definitely had a special place in her heart, where she felt most at peace, most at home. But knowing that it was only for an evening, and knowing that it'd be with John, heading off to ZuZu City was nothing but exciting.

"Yeah, I think so." Penny beamed.

"Great!" Pam yelled, yanking a lever to close the bus doors. The engine roared into life. "Then let's get a move on."

The bus rumbled forwards, disappearing straight ahead into valley tunnel, leaving Pelican Town shrinking away in the snow behind them.

John leaned forwards in his seat, up towards Pam, who was focusing intently on the road. "Thanks for doing this, Pam," he said, smiling earnestly.

Pam laughed with a toothy smile. "It's my job, kid."

"Calico Desert maybe," he said, still smiling. "But ZuZu City isn't your usual route, so, thanks."

Pam responded by laughing once again and waving her hand in the air. "Far as I'm concerned, you got the bus workin', you can take it wherever you want, kid."

John returned to his previous position, leaning back in his wheelchair. He turned his head left to face Penny, and smiled at her. She did her best to return a smile that didn't look nervous, although she was pretty sure she was already glowing with nervous energy.

"You know," he said, gently tapping his leg. "I don't think it's going to be long until I'm up and walking again."

Penny smiled warmly at him, this time with less nervous interference. "Really?"

"Yeah! Rasmodius says I've really taken to the treatment he's giving me. In fact, I reckon I could probably walk on it now..." he paused, glancing out the window, eyeing-up the icy countryside and snowy plains now that they'd exited the other side of the tunnel. "But, well, I don't think I should risk it in the middle of ZuZu City."

Penny nodded. "That's a good idea."

She swallowed. That thought had entered her mind again; the bittersweet realisation that although John would be up and healthy and safe once again, he also wouldn't need her to look after him anymore. She wouldn't have an excuse to spend so much time with him and perhaps she'd even go back to only seeing him every now and then. She did her best to bury that thought, instead trying to focus her mind on the fact that he'd soon be back to full strength.

She noticed that he was looking at her again, and turned her attention back to him. He opened his mouth as if to speak and raised his hand in a gesture, before instantly being interrupted by Pam.

"Hey John," she belched, slugging a can of Joja Cola she'd somehow produced from nowhere. "I ever tell you about the time I covered the trailer in jelly?" She laughed heartily.

As the bus rumbled its way towards ZuZu City, Pam shared stories about her drunken escapades and late night adventures while Lewis occasionally interjected and described the story from his sober perspective. Eventually, when there was a lull in Pam's stories, Lewis started explaining why he was on his way to ZuZu City.

"I'm meeting an event manager!" he squeaked, excitedly, his moustache furrowing again. "I'm thinking about bringing more tourism to Pelican Town! I'm thinking.. a night market of some kind, maybe around this time of year!"

It wasn't long before Pam took over again and started telling John about the time she got drunk on the beach and woke up covered in blue paint and holding a roll of sandpaper. Penny had heard these stories so many times - and had been there to witness several of them - that she began feeling groggy from the gentle humdrum of the moving bus, and began drifting off to sleep.

Awoken from a near-sleep state by the sudden blaze of dazzling light, Penny sat upright properly, having stopped listening to her mom halfway through her story about Gus and the meatloaf that she'd heard a thousand times. John, however, had seemingly been too polite to cut her off, listening to everything patiently. She squinted out of the window, beams of neon blue light flooding the area outside. This was it. ZuZu City.

The city itself was absolutely enormous. Gargantuan towers and corporate skyscrapers loomed over them, lurching skywards, piercing the clouds above. People rushed past them on the streets, each one hurrying off importantly to wherever it was they needed to be. There was no sign of winter here, at least none that she could see. Snow hadn't made its way to the city streets, and the icy patches that clung to every building in Pelican Town were nowhere to be seen. Penny felt a strange nervous sensation in the pit of her stomach as she watched the mass of nameless strangers milling about.

She knew everyone in the Valley. But here... not a single soul.

The bus moved slowly in the build up of traffic, to the point that it sometimes felt like they weren't getting anywhere at all. Eventually, though, just as the sky was fading into a rich amber orange, Pam pulled the bus up to a vacant stop near a street corner.

"Alright kids," she said, yanking on the handbrake and turning around in her seat to look at them. "I'll be here this evening." She gave Penny a toothy grin. "Now go enjoy yerselves."

Mayor Lewis jumped to his feet giddily. "Right, I'll see you all on the way back," he said, making his way down towards the front of the bus. "Let's see if we can get you back down the bus steps, John."

Getting John down from the bus had been a lot easier than getting him onboard. With Penny at the back and Lewis and Pam's help from the front, he'd been able to roll safely down the steps and straight out onto the sidewalk. He nodded at Pam, then at Lewis, gesturing his thanks. Pam returned to the driver's seat, nodded back, and pulled the lever to close the bus door.

"Wish me luck!" Lewis smiled and tipped his cap, humming as he started striding away from them into the crowds.

"So," said John, now turning his attention to Penny. His eyes glinted with a sparkle of excitement. "You ready?"

Penny considered the question before quickly realising that she had no idea what he'd planned out. They'd said they were going to go to ZuZu City, sure, but what exactly they were going to do, she had no idea. People were whizzing past her, sometimes even darting in between her and John. The rush of the city felt so... lonely. She felt more attached to John now than ever; he was the only person in the vicinity that she knew, and he wasn't rushing around in a blatant rush to get somewhere.

"Whatever the plan is," she smiled, brushing a stray strand of auburn hair out of her eye. "I'm ready."

"Great!" John glanced behind her, a delighted grin across his face. "Then you'd better turn around!"

As Penny spun around to face away from the street, she was greeted with a large imperial building, accented by enormous pillars and decorated with several granite statues. This building stood out sharply from the others around it as it wasn't yet another mesh of glass and steel, and it amazed her that she hadn't spotted it before that moment. Etched into a large marble strand atop the entire street-facing side of the building were the words 'ZuZu City National Library'.

Penny giggled and raised her hand to her mouth completely involuntarily.

"Oh my..." she said, trailing off, staring wide-eyed at the library. "That's... wow."

"Well," John beamed, wheeling up beside her. "What are we waiting for? Let's get in there."

As if controlled by someone else, as if motivated by a greater power, Penny found herself wrapping her arms around John and hugging him. When she realised what she was doing, she pulled back. Although she was still smiling at him, her face was instantly burning red, her internal awkwardness preventing her from saying anything for a few moments. John didn't seem to mind - he was grinning back at her.

The two made their way inside the colossal library, and Penny was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer volume of bookcases she saw before her. The interior was the polar opposite of its ornate exterior, having been filled with the straight edges of ultra-modern materials. Shiny glass and polished surfaces glimmered before her, reflecting her sheer bliss straight back at her. Shelves at least twenty books high lined the entire circumference of the inside of the building, with a brand new bookcase hugging each and every wall. Towards the center were sets of towering staircases, each winding their way up higher and higher to further levels.

"Hopefully," John said, slowly, taking time to admire the entire library. "You'll find something new to read here!"

Penny laughed. "Where do we even start?"

"Hmm, let's see..." John wheeled himself towards a list of categories etched into a silvery plaque on a nearby wall. He chuckled. "How about Dwarf History?"

They made their way together into the labyrinth of bookshelves. By the time they'd perused their way through most of the library, Penny had racked up a seriously long list of books she was going to try and get a hold of. She would've bought them there as the library did allow people to buy some of the books, but there was no way she'd have been able to haul back all the books she wanted to read - _The Secret of the Stardrop, Mysteries of the Dwarves,_ _Lupini: Modern Picasso,_ and _Joja: Conspiracy_ were all the very top of her list, to name a few. There was so much to see, so many things to find and read, but of course, as Penny often found with getting absorbed in the world of books, time got the best of her, and it was already time to leave.

"We'd better get going I reckon," said John, who was casually leafing through _Goblins & Mayonnaise. _"We don't want to miss our reservation at Starlight Tower."

Penny tore her attention away from _The Fisherman: Part II._ "Starlight Tower?" she said, slowly. "Isn't that ZuZu City's central tower?"

"Yep!" said John, grinning. "And there's a restaurant up there. We've got a table booked."

"You're kidding! But how?" Penny beamed at him. "I've read about the tower, the restaurant gets booked out for months!"

"Pierre knows the manager," said John, setting the book back in the bookcase and wheeling up to her. "He wanted to pay me back for a favour and he pulled some strings." John smiled warmly. "So, shall we?"

Penny did her best to hide the butterflies in her stomach and nodded excitedly. The two made their way back out to the street. They made their way down the busy street in the fading evening light and towards the enormous tower in the heart of the city.

"Oh no," said John, grimacing. He pointed to a large blue, rectangular building at the end of the street they were heading towards. "That's one of Joja's offices. I used to work there."

Penny glanced at the building. It was surprisingly shoddy-looking, with streaks of sloppily-applied blue paint peeling and cracking off the brittle walls. The windows were grimy and dark, to the point that Penny would've assumed that it was an abandoned building. She didn't know anything about structural support, but the roof sloped in the middle slightly, making it look like it could collapse inwards at any moment.

"Wow," she said, with genuine surprise in her voice. "I can't picture you in there. What was it like?"

"Not good," he said, nodding. "I was just a cog in the machine. Unless you're a manager, you're not treated as human. Just a resource." John shuddered.

"Good thing you got out!" said Penny, trying to re-invigorate him with some positivity. She had no idea what it was like, but she knew Joja well enough to know that thinking about it would probably bring him down.

"Wonderful thing," he smiled, although not as cheerily as she'd expected. She watched his expression falter from his warm smile to a look of concentration, before it dissolved even further into a look of mild sadness. Penny knew that something was troubling him. She swallowed, her throat dry, and mustered up the courage to say something.

"John," she said, slowly. "Are you okay?"

"Just thinking about my grandpa," he said, uncharacteristically monotone, still wheeling himself along as they continued onwards. He shrugged with a weak smile. "It was his farm, you see. He left it to me in his will."

Penny's stomach knotted. She'd never once even thought about why it was that John had inherited the farm. She hadn't really talked to his grandpa when he'd owned the farm, although even she knew how kind and considerate he was. He'd been known in Pelican Town as Old Man Henry, and got along with everybody. His death was a crushing blow to the town, and left everyone glum and solemn for a while. Lewis, especially, had been very upset as he'd spent a lot of time with him.

She felt guilty that she hadn't taken the time to know John's grandpa - that back then she wouldn't have even considered it - because it meant socialising with a stranger.

"I'm so sorry, John," she said, gently. "He was a very kind man."

"Thanks, Penny," said John, smiling at her warmly, this time earnestly. "I never would've left Joja and come to Pelican Town if not for my grandpa."

In a burst of confidence likely due to her compassion, she placed her hand on his shoulder. "And Pelican Town would've suffered a great loss in not having you."

It was brief, and she couldn't be sure she was seeing it correctly, but it looked like John was blushing. His ears burnt a gentle pink and his smile widened. He chuckled. "Well they certainly would've missed out on some tasty blueberries." He beamed at her. "I don't know if- Oh, hey, we're here."

They'd arrived at the foot of the colossal Starlight Tower, which somehow looked endlessly tall from here, stretching infinitely above them into the late-evening sky. A young man dressed in a pressed black suit opened the polished glass door for them, smiling and gesturing for them to come inside. As they stepped through into the reception area, Penny almost gasped.

The reception was an enormous circular room. The walls were made of what looked like slabs of polished granite and marble and adorned with various sconces and ornate golden lights. From the centre of the ceiling hung a cascading chandelier, one that looked like it was made of several hundred beautifully softly glowing lights.

"Hi there," chimed a perky receptionist, waving them over to her desk eagerly. "How can I help you two today?"

"We've got a table booked for the Starlight Restaurant," said John, wheeling up to the desk.

"Ah, don't tell me, don't tell me," she said excitedly, leafing through a thick book on her desk. She ran her thumb down a list of reservations. "Ah, you must be John and Penny?"

John nodded cheerily. The receptionist grinned back at him, pleased with herself. "Great!" she said, now getting to her feet. "If you'll just come this way..."

She lead them over to a set of shiny elevator doors with the words 'Starlight Restaurant' embossed in cursive writing across the front.

"This elevator will take you directly to the top!" she said, pressing the button and causing the doors to slide open smoothly. "So you don't need to worry about ending up on the wrong floor! Have a wonderful evening."

She flashed them one more bright smile before she made her way back to her desk and John and Penny stepped inside the elevator. It rose gently into the air, lifting them all the way to the top of the magnificent tower.

When they reached the top floor, the doors slid open gently to reveal a young waiter standing nearby.

"Ah, John and Penny, John and Penny," he said in a sharp, deep accent. "Right this way, my friends." Penny guessed that he only knew their names because the receptionist called ahead to tell him while they were in the elevator, but it was still a nice touch.

He lead them over towards a small table beside an enormous window. The restaurant was at the very top of Starlight Tower, and the outer-wall was almost completely glass to allow for astounding panoramic views. Although the sun had firmly disappeared while they were at street level, from up here they could just about see the tip still disappearing over the horizon.

They sat down at the table as the waiter offered them water and bread to start with, although Penny couldn't tear herself away from staring at the view. The city was a sea of shimmering lights, ablaze with dazzling colours and twinkling spots, not unlike a family of moonlight jellyfish. The setting sun bathed the distant buildings in a rich, burnt orange, and from all the way up here, the city almost looked peaceful. Even though she'd just experienced it first-hand, it was difficult to believe that down there was a chaotic mass of hurried people and constant traffic. From here, it just looked like a glass and steel utopia.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" said John, peering over a large beige menu from the other side of the small table.

"It's incredible," she replied, softly, still distracted by the cityscape. She shook her head gently to tear her gaze away and back to the table. "So," she said, glancing at John and then down at the menu on the table in front of her. "Any recommendations?"

* * *

Saturday, Winter 20th, Year 1.

This has to have been the longest break between chapters so far! I'm so sorry you guys - I won't bore you with any excuses but needless to say I've been very busy! I've got the next few chapters lined up though... because I'm really excited to keep this going!

Our heroes finally made it to ZuZu City - and there's another part on the way!

Thanks for sticking with me and thanks for reading~!

 **Side note:** Starlight Tower's special today is a slow-roasted Stardrop pasta dish.


	20. Bonus Ch 2 - Part 2 of 2 - Winter 20th

By the time their final course was almost finished - a shared banana split with ice-cream - they were both very full and very satisfied.

"They weren't exactly hidden!" chuckled John.

"I know!" Penny giggled, moving her hands out in front of her. She couldn't remember being more relaxed in a casual conversation. "It wasn't exactly my mom's first choice either," she laughed.

"Ah of course, I forgot Pam was involved," said John, through the end of a stifled chuckle. He paused in his sentence to eat and swallow a spoonful of vanilla ice-cream. "How's your mom doing, anyway? With you staying with me and all. Everything good?"

"She's doing okay, I think," Penny nodded, although not without a pang of guilt. "I can never decide if looking after her or letting her learn to do it herself is the right thing to do." She smiled meekly, but it faltered quickly as she retargeted her gaze on the banana split.

"Well I think you're an everyday hero, Penny," John beamed. "I mean, you _know_ that I couldn't get by without your help as I am." He gestured out with his hands to the wheelchair he was still sitting in, rather than the dining chair. "It doesn't have to fall to you, though. If you ever need help taking care of Pam, or, well," he smiled at her warmly, "if you need anything, I hope that you know I'll be there to help."

A warm, comforting sensation flooded Penny's chest. She couldn't be sure, but she felt as though she'd just about managed to avoid blushing. "Thanks, John," she smiled back at him. She laughed lightly and swallowed, determined to speak her mind. "I'm going to miss staying with you."

John nodded in agreement and his smile faltered slightly too. "Well you're always welcome," he said quietly, a soft smile returning to his face. "Oh hey, that reminds me," he said, perking up. He reached into his pocket and produced something small, wrapped in a silky-looking black cloth. "Here," he grinned, handing it to her.

Penny took the piece of cloth with both hands and gently unfolded it. Inside was a glimmering fire opal, one that sparked and glinted in dazzling red and purple hues under the restaurant lights. Despite holding it back earlier, she was definitely blushing now. Whether he knew it or not, simply being thought of meant a lot to her.

"Wow, John," she said, trying not to sound too timid. "You found another one. It's beautiful." She willed herself to look him in the eye and show her appreciation, smiling warmly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome! But I didn't just get one," he chuckled, reaching into the same pocket and producing another fire opal. He held it up to the light, holding it between his thumb and forefinger. "I got two! Because who knows," he grinned, squinting at the opal. "Maybe we'll end up on another adventure in desperate need of a fire opal."

Penny laughed. "I can only hope so!"

As the two laughed and John stowed the second fire opal back in his pocket, a waiter moved swiftly up to their table.

"Are we all finished here, my friends?" he said cheerily, gesturing at the mostly-finished banana split.

They exchanged a quick glance, nodded in agreement, and John replied "Yes, thanks."

"Ah very good," said the waiter, moving in a little closer and picking up the empty bowls and plates. "And how was everything this evening? Can I get you anything else?"

"I think we're good," said John. "Unless you want anything, Penny?" Penny shook her head.

"Excellent," said the waiter, picking up the last plate. "Then I have something very exciting to tell you, my friends."

John arched an eyebrow at the waiter. Penny could only assume that he, too, had no idea what the waiter was about to say.

"Your bill," he smiled, producing a short receipt on a small silver platter. "Has been paid for."

Penny glanced at John, who also seemed confused, and then back at the waiter. "By who?" she said, bemused.

"Have a look," the waiter grinned before moving away elegantly, all the plates and bowls collected in his hands.

They both peered down at the small bill in the center of the table, which read:

 _To my heroes,_

 _Enjoy your meal in ZuZu City - it's the very least that I can do._

 _Robin_

"Wow..." was all John could say as he stared at it.

"Yeah," nodded Penny. "That's so kind of her. How did she even know we were here?"

"No idea," said John, smiling and rubbing his chin in thought. "Mayor Lewis?"

"Maybe," Penny smiled. "I'll be sure to thank her when we get back."

"Definitely," John beamed. "Well then," he said, looking down at the empty table and glancing around generally. "Shall we go?"

The two of them made their way back to the elevator, passing several smiling waiters and waitresses that bid them a safe journey and thanked them for coming. As they got in the lift and it started going down, Penny realised that she couldn't stop smiling.

...

The air outside was much colder at this time in the evening, and Penny was reminded that it was in fact the dead of winter. The day itself had been so mild in the city that it may as well have been spring - but now, now that the darkness had settled, the chill of winter had come sweeping back in.

"So," said John, wheeling himself forwards and pausing to pull his coat up higher around his neck to guard against the icy chill. "Have you had a good day, Penny?"

Penny beamed at him. "I have." She shuddered slightly through a cold breeze.

"And the city hasn't crushed your spirits at all?" he chuckled.

"I definitely couldn't live here," she laughed, looking around her. All she could see was concrete, steel and glass - nothing natural in sight. "I'm just so glad you came to Pelican Town."

Penny froze. She'd done it again. That wasn't at all what she'd meant to say. Once again she'd let something slip without really thinking about what she was saying.

 _Why do I do that?_ she thought, berating herself. She could feel a flood of scarlet spreading across her face and to the tips of her ears, although thankfully she could blame it on the cold. Swallowing her nerves and gently playing with her hands anxiously as they walked, she tried to continue.

"Because, you know," she stammered, gesturing with her hands to overcompensate for her suddenly nervous voice. "It's a bit soulless. The city, I mean. So I'm glad you managed to leave it behind you."

John chuckled. "Very true, very true." He seemed to be doing his best to catch her eye and eventually, despite her nervousness, Penny willed herself to look back at him. "It also means I got to meet you and everyone else in town," he beamed. "That's the best part."

Penny smiled. "I agree," she said, doing her best to avoid shying away.

"Hey, guys!" called an excited voice from behind them. They both turned to see Lewis hurrying his way up to them. He grinned widely at them both, and wiggled his mustache feverishly. "They approved my night market idea!"

"That's fantastic," said John, returning his grin. "Well done, Mayor Lewis."

The three of them continued moving down the street. "Ohh psh," he said, throwing his hand in front of him. "It's not about me, it's about everybody in Pelican Town! They were there for a weekend last year in the summer and they loved it!" He nudged John's shoulder. "They mentioned you, y'know." He winked.

"Me?" said John, raising his eyebrows. "Why?"

"They said the town farmer offered them some delicious strawberries and that they hadn't stopped talking about them!"

"Oh," John smiled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Right, that was when I had too much fruit!" He glanced between the two of them. "I gave you both some, actually," he grinned.

Penny remembered the day that he'd given her that delicious melon. Somehow it felt like both a lifetime ago and as if it was only a few days ago. She realized that back then John was still practically a stranger to her. It filled her with confidence to see just how far she'd come - to go from that to being here with him now, in Zuzu City, on a special day trip for just the two of them. She smiled, without even meaning to.

"Pam!" Lewis yelled, shaking Penny out of her deep-thought stupor. She hadn't realised they'd already made it to the bus. Lewis had disappeared inside, completely forgetting about helping John up and was excitedly wittering away to Pam about his night market. John chuckled and smiled at Penny, clearly finding the funny side in the situation.

Eventually, when Lewis clocked that they hadn't boarded, he reappeared sheepishly, his face tinged rosy-red. With Penny, Pam and Lewis' help, John got back up into the bus and secured himself. Lewis re-boarded and Penny followed him inside.

"Have a good time you two?" said Penny, bearing a toothy smile.

"Sure did," said John, brightly. He caught Penny's eye. "But I'm glad to be heading back to the valley. I forgot how crazy things were in the city!"

...

It didn't take long for the conversation to slip back into Pam's exploits. Lewis, now in an extremely good mood, was contributing to every single one of them, laughing along and commenting at appropriate moments. Penny wasn't listening for the most part, and instead focused on the outside world whizzing past her. Finally, she saw the valley come into focus. The snow made its reappearance, coating the rolling hills and capping the expansive forests. Penny let out a deep sigh, as if it was a breath of relief, and it made her realize just how much she loved the valley.

She was home.

...

"Thanks for driving us, Pam," said John, just after she'd helped him to get down off the bus.

"Hey no problem kid," said Pam, moving around to lock up the bus. "Happy to help." She finished up with the bus and nodded at Penny. "You get him home now, kiddo, okay?"

Penny nodded. "Will do, Mom."

"Good girl," she smiled toothily. She wasn't sure why, but it felt like this was somehow Pam's way of showing her approval for what Penny was doing, for caring for John. A warm, loving feeling spread throughout her chest and a pleasant tingle ran through her spine. Without much pause for thought, she hugged Pam tightly and smiled at her as she let go. Pam seemed taken off-guard, but not entirely unhappy about it.

"See you later, Mom," said Penny, still smiling. She held the wheelchair by the handles, made sure she wasn't about to slip on any ice, and moved off down the path back towards the farm.

"Thanks for coming today, Penny," said John, cheerily. "I had an awesome day."

"Me too," said Penny, and she really meant it.

They made their way in the dark towards the farm and carefully moved through the snow and up towards the house.

"I know we talked about it already," said John, rubbing his chin. "But it's going to be very strange here without someone else around."

Penny smiled with a girlish giddiness, even though John wasn't looking. It was a very strange, pleasing idea that someone would actually _miss_ spending time with her. With bookish, shy, Penny. "I'll miss it too," she said, gently. "But I'll be sure to visit a lot!" She felt a small wave of confidence and laughed lightly. "You won't be able to get rid of me that easily!"

John chuckled heartily. "Good, I'm glad! I mean we could even-" He froze in mid-sentence and craned his neck off to the left in the far distance. Penny frowned at him.

"What? What is it?" she said, bemused, now craning her neck to scan the area that he was staring at.

Along the edge of the black treeline, just barely visible in the dim half-light of the moon, was a small shadowy figure. It stood completely still, as if it had been caught doing something. A chill ran up Penny's spine as she remembered the Noctumbra, and not the pleasant shiver that her mom's approval had given her. Slightly further down the shadowed silhouette was a small white speck. It moved ever so slightly and fluttered a little.

Then, it clucked. A chicken.

"Hey!" yelled John. Much to Penny's surprise, he leapt to his feet, jumping cleanly out of the wheelchair and standing on his own two feet. It was as if his anger was powering his legs. "You took Cluck, didn't you?!" He took off with a charge towards the darkness, and the silhouette began to flee.

"John, wait!" called Penny, carefully starting to run after him, avoiding a very large patch of ice. "You'll slip on the ice. John, you're running!"

John didn't respond and instead continued to chase the shadowy figure that was escaping with another one of his chickens. Penny did her best to keep up with him, but ultimately had to slow down to avoid falling over as she skirted around snow banks and chunks of smooth ice.

Even though she lost him completely for a brief moment as she followed him out of the farm and into town, she eventually managed to catch him up. He had stopped at the edge of town and was glancing around frantically.

"Damn it," he wheezed, panting heavily. "I lost him. Where'd he go? Some Noctumbra stealing my chickens!"

"John," Penny breathed, resting her hands on her knees and attempting to regulate her breathing. "John, look," she pointed at his legs.

"What?" he said, turning around to look at her. He looked at her hand and looked down. He stared at his shoes in complete silence for several moments.

Slowly, he raised his head back up to look at her. The largest grin she'd ever seen was plastered all the way across his face.

* * *

Saturday, Winter 20th, Year 1.

Oh no, a Noctumbra is stealing chickens! Is John right that this explains Cluck's disappearance? Who knows? Well hey, at least we're back in Pelican Town now! What's a Valley Girl without a Valley?

Thank you so much for reading you guys! Please let me know what you think, I love hearing from you guys, and have an awesome weekend (and life~)!

 **Side note from Lewis:** They approved my  night market! Yippee!


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